For the inhabitants of the urban commune of Maroantsetra (departement of Toamasin in Madagascar), drinking water is something that is virtually out of reach. Access to water is only available via shallow family wells. Yet since the soil is very sandy, the rainwater seeps down easily, dragging along the waste that lies on the surface.
This means that the shallow water table is far from being able to offer a quality water, and this generates a large number of waterborne diseases.
New wells for quality water
The water drawn from a well is not always fit for immediate consumption. This is in any case the reality experienced by the population of the urban commune of Maroantsetra in Madagascar. To find an answer to this situation, the Rotary Club of Rennes is helping inhabitants to draw water from a deeper source.
The search for pure water
Several hygiene awareness raising campaigns have been conducted among the population, teaching them in particular how to use products to treat the water before consumption. Yet the adoption of this practice is an uphill battle.
To find another answer to this permanent health menace, the Rotary Club of Rennes, which has been working for several years in Madagascar with another association, Amitiés Madagascar Bretagne, has started a campaign to drill deeper wells, to reach the unsoiled aquifers.
Twenty new wells will thus be sunk in the coming months in 10 villages of the commune. A first step toward the eradication of a large number of recurrent diseases.
