Bridge of Hope Well

Bridge of Hope Well

A Project Proposal for Drilling a Water Well in the Bridge of Hope (BOH) Compound.

This project will improve their water supply and sanitation.

“Water is almost everything in a children’s home compound like Bridge of Hope (BoH). It is used for drinking, sanitation, gardening, and livestock. For a population of more than 100 (children and care givers) permanently living in the compound and over one thousand elementary school children and kindergarten children staying the whole day and sharing the same water sources, the amount of water required every day is considerable. The installed public pipeline provides water only two days a week and the water well already drilled has inadequate discharge capacity.

“All in all, the compound gets not more than 30% of its needs water from installed water structures and requires another water source to be installed in the compound. The best solution is drilling a water well to cover the gap.”

“Bridge of Hope is established in 2001 to respond to some of the problems in Gondar town, predominantly by ministering to orphans and vulnerable children. The organization created a family-like children development model in which the children are served holistically. So far the organizations was able to support more than 100 children in the center and 130 young adults were able to reintegrate with their communities and extended families after graduating for the program at BOH. Currently the children village is serving 78 children. Among these children 14 are infants and babies.

“The national and WHO minimum water consumption rate is 20 liters per person per day on average . That is for a population of more than 100 living in BoH compound, a minimum of 2000 liters of water supply is required every day for drinking, cooking, sanitation, and other home activities. This doesn’t include the water supply needed for the elementary and kindergarten schools with students of one thousand. BoH runs in the compound; water needed for small gardening and livestock (cows) the compound manages. These all makes up the daily water requirement to more than 3000 liters per day. However, the compound is able to get only 30% of its total requirements from water well previously drilled and public water pipeline installation.

“The public water supply installation supplies water only for two days a week due to water scarcity and poor water system management in Gondar town. The water well has low discharge capacity and supply on 1 liter/second with a very limited capacity specially during dry season. The gap causes stress on the whole compound revealed through poor sanitation, inadequate supply for cooking – where children and caregivers sometimes have to use jerry cans to store water. Poor sanitation has also its negative implications on the health of the children at BoH homes and at the schools.

“To fill the water scarcity in the compound a water well with a better discharge rate and with better capacity is vital. From the previous water well drilling, ground water is accessible at the depth of 70 meters in the compound. The water installation process includes well drilling, pipeline installation, and water point construction. Fortuitously sufficient water tankers are being installed in the children’s village for there will be no need of installing an additional tanker. This is believed to improve the water supply in the compound and contribute to improved access to safe water and improve sanitation.

“The water supply also will be used for gardening and the livestock in the compound, which in turn improved food supply and nutrition for the children being cared for and supported by Bridge of Hope.” – Tsion, orphanage administrator

Please give whatever you are able. Together we can provide the gift of clean water to these children!