Student power to ensure access to drinking water

« This water supply project is part of a long-term partnership with villages founded on sustainable development. Members of "Burkin’h2o" are keen to pass on their skills to villagers so that they can take the project forward themselves. »
Caroline Licari

On one side, Burkin’h2o, an association whose membership is made up of students from three colleges in Nancy*, founded to support development projects in Burkina Faso and keen to make fellow residents of the city more aware of water distribution issues On the other, a Burkinan village, Bouloumnabyri, located around 200 km to the south-west of Ouagadougou, working with the "Eau-Vive" NGO on developing community infrastructures since 1995. Among the achievements: construction of a primary school for around 350 pupils, three accommodation units for teachers, school toilets, a health centre, a maternity clinic and accommodation for healthcare staff.

A project implemented by and for the villagers

The health centre and maternity clinic have already led to a major improvement in the health of villagers: since 2003, when both structures were opened, the number of people vaccinated in the village and the surrounding areas has increased and the maternal mortality rates have fallen. But to provide an appropriate standard of service, this small hospital facility still lacked a permanent and adequate supply of drinking water. "Burkin’h2o", which travels to Burkina Faso every summer to identify future projects, chose to help "Eau-Vive" and the villagers of Bouloumnabyri on the well-boring project which will enable this requirement to be met.

The villagers put in the hard physical work and cover a small percentage of the work's financial cost. A local association is then charged with ensuring that families receive instruction in hygiene issues. For its part, Veolia Foundation is providing funding of €7,500 to cover most of the well-boring work. Once back in Nancy, "Burkin’h2o" plans to organise exhibitions in schools on this key issue of access to drinking water.

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* The "École de management de Nancy", "École nationale des mines de Nancy", and the "École nationale supérieure d’art", joining together under the Artem banner.