Drought-Parched Zambia Turns to the Sun to Keep Water Flowing

 

Reuters, 08/06 18:54 CET

By Danstan Kaunda

KAZUNGULA, Zambia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Munji Malambo and his younger brother used to wake up at 5 a.m. every day to fetch water for their family and livestock. With the nearest working well over two kilometres away, the boys often missed school as they carried enough water home.

That changed when, earlier this year, the government installed a solar powered-borehole at Malambo’s school, the Simukombo Primary School, in southern Zambia’s drought-prone Kazungula District.

Now the local community has quick and easy access to clean groundwater. And Malambo, 16, and his 200 classmates can spend their days learning instead of toting water.

The new well is part of a government project to bring water to the Ndemena and Mabole communities, both of which are among the hardest hit by drought in the district.

The aim of the project, launched in 2015, is to build the resilience to climate change of a county suffering prolonged and unpredictable droughts. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: euronews.