Tanzania supporters trip

In February 2005 a group of 12 water company volunteers went to visit WaterAid's programme in Tanzania. South West Water volunteer Sue Alcock describes her amazing experience.

Hasina Mohammed, 11 years old.

Credit: WaterAid / Alex Macro

My first sight of Tanzania, from the window of the plane, was of the magnificent silhouette of Mount Kilimanjaro against the red sun of a new day. It would be the precursor of what would be an amazing two weeks spent in a country inhabited by some of the poorest people in Africa.

We travelled first from the humid city of Dar es Salaam to the capital, Dodoma, in the centre of the country, then on to another district near Singida, many miles to the North West.

We spent a 'day in a life' at a village, where no clean water or sanitation was available; we hoed gardens, collected food and helped prepare a meal and collected filthy water from a traditional well.

At other villages we helped dig trenches, lay pipes, cement the aprons around the pumps and, even more exhilarating, installed a hand-pump and were able to pump out the first clean water for that part of the village.

Our translators helped us understand the amount of time which the women and children spend on domestic chores, and the disease and often death they face from unclean water supplies and poor hygiene brought about by terrible sanitation.

Credit: WaterAid / Jim Holmes

At other villages we saw the difference a supply of clean water makes; immediately children had time to go to school, better houses were being built, women on water committees were given status as they became important voices within their communities.

In the urban unplanned settlements in Dar es Salaam, clean water had made a big difference, as had latrines. But their problem is still one of development, as the slums continue to sprawl, with no structure or establishment of services.

WaterAid's work is carried out in conjunction with local councils and partners and this element was very evident. The communities themselves take charge of planning and constructing new water points and latrines.

It is they who 'own' the projects. I was hugely impressed by the fact that all the projects are sustainable. In fact, it was stressed to us that WaterAid was not really seen as a charity in the region, but was considered to be a 'development agency'.

My trip made me realise more than ever just how very lucky we are in the developed world to have water and sanitation services at our fingertips. None of the volunteers who visited Tanzania will ever take our water and sewerage services for granted again.