Wojciech Grzędziński – Lack of water in Sudan

Southern Sudan – one of the world’s poorest regions. Over 20 years of the civil conflict between northern and southern Sudan have devastated the infrastructure of the South. The 2005 Sudan Peace Agreement guaranteed autonomy to the Southern Sudan and became a chance for hundreds of thousands of refugees to return to their homes. Life in empty spaces, grass vast areas often cross-cut with pathways is determined by nature. Nature decides who will survive the upcoming months when the rain comes and who will have access to water. In the land where temperature reaches fifty degrees in the shade with almost zero humidity, the lack of water means death. One bore hole serves approxi- mately 1 700 people. Yellow cans making a dozen meter long straight line show the waiting order to the bore hole. Women wait day and night to fill their cans. One person has to remain satisfied with the maximum of 6 litres water per day. This has to be sufficient for cooking, drinking and washing. That covers only a third of minimal needs.
The lack of water equals to the lack of hygiene. The mixture of dust and dried animal excrements with heated soil means that a random scratch can become a deadly infection. Due to the lack of medical care, a man who reaches the age of 50 is regarded as an elderly person. “There is no woman here who would not lost a child” says
dr Murray Trubshaw from the Doctors Without Borders organisation. “And some women mourned even 4 children or more. The lack of water constitutes a major problem in Sudan”.

Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH) has operated a permanent field mission in Southern Sudan since 2006. One of the major activities in the region is providing local people with the access to potable water. So far, PAH’s work has led to the construction of 82 bore holes in the Southern Sudan that serve around 80 000 people. PAH have also repaired 30 bore holes, trained 35 persons to take care of the them, provided tools and equipment to repair another 60 bore holes and launched a hygiene-promotion campaign among 70 000 people.