25 Feb 2012

CHAD / WATER

It’s the dry season in N’Djamena and clean water is in high demand. But poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts aren’t on the city’s grid and rely on shallow wells and water vendors to provide water for drinking and bathing. Even then, there is no guarantee that the water is clean. Last year over 17,000 people contracted cholera in Chad, with almost 5,000 cases in the capital alone. UNICEF

Posted at: February 25, 2012 11:28 am

Duration: 04:20

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

STORY: CHAD / WATER
TRT: 4.20
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / CHADIAN ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 11 FEBRUARY 2012, N'DJAMENA, CHAD

SHOTLIST:

1. Various shots, Aisha and her family preparing food 
2. Close up, dried tomatoes
3. Various shots, children swimming in river 
4. Various shots, water vendors
5. Various shots, family preparing food
6. SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Aisha Adoum, grandmother:
"It was so expensive, we couldn't buy enough water for everything, so we would just buy one or two jerry cans for drinking and cooking, but for the other things, like washing, we would use dirty water and there was a lot of disease and a lot of diarrhoea in the children." 
7. Various shots, people collecting water from wells
8. Various shots, girl brings water home
9. SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic)  Aisha Adoum, grandmother:
"Before, it was so expensive to buy water, but now, since this was installed, my daughter, my grandchildren and I go to collect water whenever we want. Its so much better for us."
10. Various shots, people fill up containers at well
11. SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Mohammed Mohammezen Duma, Chairman of the water committee, Dar Salam Quartier:
"People in this quartier keep telling us stories about how they always used to get diarrhoea and how they used to get cholera, but since this was installed, there hasn't been one case of cholera here."
12. Various shots, market scenes
13. Various shots, people by latrines washing hands
14. SOUNDBITE (French) Modou Diaw, Chief of Mission, Secours Islamique France.:
"The involvement of communities is so important because it makes them and the projects independent which then allows our organization to work in other places, because they're now autonomous."
15. Various shots, woman carts water
16. SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Mohammed Mohammezen Duma, Chairman of the water committee, Dar Salam Quartier:
"If you talk about life, you talk about water, but not just water, clean water, and now we have clean water."
17. Close up, dried tomatoes
18. Close up, grandmother and girl talking

STORYLINE:

The harsh sun has dried out Aisha Adoum's tomatoes, ochre and berries, she picks off the stems and breaks the tomatoes in half, preparing them for market.

It's the dry season in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, dust coats everything and while lakes and rivers are low and polluted they still provide respite from the heat.

Clean water is in high demand but poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts aren't on the city's grid and rely on shallow wells and, if they can afford it, water vendors, to provide water for drinking and bathing. But even then, there is no guarantee that the water is clean, last year over 17000 people contracted cholera in Chad, there were almost 5,000 cases in the capital alone.

Aisha Adoum and her family live in Dar Salam, a poor neighbourhood on the edge of N'djamena, she used to use much of her income to buy one or two jerry cans of water a week, it was all she could afford, but it still wasn't enough for her family.

SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Aisha Adoum, grandmother:
"It was so expensive, we couldn't buy enough water for everything, so we would just buy one or two jerry cans for drinking and cooking, but for the other things, like washing, we would use dirty water and there was a lot of disease and a lot of diarrhoea in the children."

But last year UNICEF in partnership with Secours Islamique France started building clean water delivery systems in poor communities around N'djamena. The wells are 60 metres deep, far deeper and thus far cleaner than the open or even hand pumped wells commonly used here. The harsh incessant sun provides the power. Solar panels fuel the pumps which suck up and deliver the water to an elevated tank, which in turn feeds two water points. Aisha and her family live right across the road from one of the water points, it's changed their lives.

SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Aisha Adoum, grandmother:
"Before, it was so expensive to buy water, but now, since this was installed, my daughter, my grandchildren and I go to collect water whenever we want. Its so much better for us."

There are now seven such water points in poor neighbourhoods around N'Djamena, managed by the communities in which they've been built. While the water is free for individual households, water vendors pay a minimum amount which is then used for service, maintenance and chlorination. The water vendors themselves don't have to travel as far to source water and can now provide a cleaner healthier product.

SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Mohammed Mohammezen Duma, Chairman of the water committee, Dar Salam Quartier 
"People in this quartier keep telling us stories about how they always used to get diarrhoea and how they used to get cholera, but since this was installed, there hasn't been one case of cholera here."

Alongside the installation of water systems, UNICEF and Secours Islamique France have also built latrines in public places like markets and schools. It's an attempt to cut down on open defecation, which aids the spread of bacterial diseases like cholera. Like the water systems, the latrines are managed by the community and people are charged a small fee for their use. The money is used for the upkeep and maintenance of the latrines and for buying soap.

SOUNDBITE (French) Modou Diaw, Chief of Mission, Secours Islamique France:
"The involvement of communities is so important because it makes them and the projects independent which then allows our organization to work in other places, because they're now autonomous."

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services in Chad is among the lowest in the world and there are major factors in recurrent outbreaks of diseases like polio, meningitis, and persistently, cholera. It is only through the delivery of quality sanitation services and most importantly, clean water, that Chad can hope to overcome this viscous cycle of disease.

SOUNDBITE (Chadian Arabic) Mohammed Mohammezen Duma, Chairman of the water committee, Dar Salam Quartier:
"If you talk about life, you talk about water, but not just water, clean water, and now we have clean water."