Clean water for everyone
Successful projects: 2006 through 2013
Our goal at Brunnenbau macht Schule is to give the people of Congo access to clean water. Permanently. True to the concept of “helping people help themselves,” Hartmut Heuser’s initiative trains people to become well engineers at well drilling schools. The engineers we train then pass on their knowledge and skills to others. Altogether, some 300 wells have been drilled since we started the Brunnenbau macht Schule project. Each of these wells provides ten liters of clean water per person to some 75,000 to 100,000 people.
Students at the well drilling centers have access to all of the theory and on-hands experience they need to learn how to drill a well. They can complete basic training and take intensive courses. Each well construction center has a workshop where students learn how to make the tools they need to drill a well. Each class forms teams that join forces to form a mobile well drilling school. These teams travel to the villages, drill wells and train the locals there. The centers were set up in cooperation with our partners, who manage the centers. We currently have two very well-run centers. We are currently setting up or re-activating others:
1. Kanaga, Kasai Occidental province: In cooperation with the archdiocese workshops
2. Ngandajika, Kasai Oriental: A collaboration with the DITUNGA cooperative. An exemplary center.
3. Tshumbe, Lodja, Kasai Oriental province: Active in 2008 and 2009. The project was put on hold because two key trainers
and sponsors dropped out on short notice. We are planning to reactivate the center in 2012.
4. New centers in set-up phase
Kisangani (Haut Congo), Kimbongo (Bandundo province) and in the suburbs around Kinshasa
Well engineers trained to date
1. Kanaga: Well engineers: 35, Intensive courses: 3, Instructors: 5, Mechanics: 5
2. Ngandajika: Well engineers: 20, Intensive courses: 2, Instructors: 3, Mechanics: 5
3. Tshumbe: Well engineers: 10, Intensive courses: 0, Instructors: 1, Mechanics: 1
Wells completed to date
Wells have been drilled as part of the training program as well as by the mobile well drilling schools. We have been able to keep track of the following wells within the scope of our program:
1. Kananga and vicinity: More than 200 wells in the surrounding villages and at institutions such as orphanages, schools for the dumb and deaf and central prisons
2. Ngandajika: 35 wells
3. Tshumbe: 5 wells
The total number of wells drilled so far (500) is an estimate. Former course participants have become self-employed over the past few years and continue to build wells without further training. The project does not generally receive any information about these wells.
