
Clean Water is the foundation of healthy diet, hygiene, and sanitation. In Karagwe, Tanzania, water is scarce, and the cheapest, most simple, and most effective solution to the Karagwe water shortage is the construction of rooftop water-harvesting systems; i.e., capturing the run-off during the wet season for use during the dry season. Amizade initiated in 2008 a 3-year program to install a minimum of 36 water harvesting systems, with labor and materials provided by local and global volunteers. The three $10,000 grants from the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation led to the installation of 13 cistern-based water-harvesting systems, 8 of them for 11 survivors of gender-based human rights abuses, and their families. In addition, the community and Amizade built a massive 300,000 liter water-harvesting system, including gutters, underground piping, and a solar-powered pump for a school in the small village of Chonyoyo, thus bringing clean water to over 300 women and children. Currently, several bore-hole based systems have been initiated. (www.amizade.org)