Tanzania | WaterAid America

Tanzania

Capital:

Dodoma

Population:

53 million

Area:

945,203

km²

Tanzania is a country of extremes. Great central plains and forested highlands. Tropical savanna and an equatorial shoreline. Africa’s tallest point, Mount Kilimanjaro, and its deepest lake, Tanganyika.

Despite being on course to become a middle-income country, it is also a place of extreme poverty. Positive economic changes rarely reach the three in ten Tanzanians who survive on less than $1.25 per day. Nearly half of all people in Tanzania have no clean water, and less than a quarter have a decent toilet.

The Government has ambitious goals to provide 24 million people with clean water and half of all households with toilets. These services will protect people and the country’s future from climate change and water shortages.

We will help make this happen by working with the Government, providing expert training and support to local authorities. We will bring in our specialist partners in education, gender, disabilities and the environment. Together we will make clean water, toilets and hygiene normal for everyone in Tanzania.

25.7 million people don't have clean water.

That's almost half of the population.

7 in 10 people don't have a toilet.

That's 41 million people.

5,400 children under 5 die from diarrhea every year.

Caused by dirty water and poor toilets.

Keeping kids in school

Image: WaterAid/Eliza Deacon

I have seen a change in behaviour when it comes to hygiene. Students now wash their hands with soap after going to the toilet, and they wash themselves daily. They are even more aware of the environment; you don’t see waste lying around at school anymore.

Agnes Pius, 51 – teacher at Guse Primary School

Agnes Pius has taught in four different schools in Tanzania over the years. She’s no stranger to truancy, but not for the reasons you’d expect. "Students would rather stay home from school than use the old toilets," she explains. “I felt sorry for children who used them.”

More and more children are enrolling in Tanzania’s schools, but the number of toilets and water points hasn’t caught up.

With our local partner, we have built a new toilet block for Guse Primary School. There are water points too, accessible to younger children and people with disabilities. Girls can now manage their periods safely and privately.

“I’m happy,” Agnes says. “Now we have healthy and clean children who are keen to further their education.”

Delivering life at Kiomboi

When we first visited the maternity wards of Kiomboi Hospital in 2015 its piped water system had broken down. Incredible people like you helped raise almost £5m that winter, which means midwives like Juliana can deliver babies like Fatuma Paul in a safer environment.