Success Stories
Water - The Source of All Life
Kelermina Manuela is a 30-year old widow living with her three children in Candele, a remote village high in the mountains in western Angola. The beautiful surroundings hide the harsh realities of life in this remote spot. A study done in 2005 showed that many children in this region are clinically underweight and one third of them are severely malnourished, greatly increasing their chances of falling ill and decreasing their chances of survival.
Ms. Manuela lives in a small mud and straw house near 150 other families. They have no access to drinking water, clinics, schools or markets. It takes over six hours to fetch water daily from a small stream, and Ms. Manuela and her children all collect water each day. She currently cultivates maize, beans, potatoes and groundnuts on the steep rocky slopes, but she cannot produce any vegetables for lack of necessary seeds, tools and labor. Her family eats only the leaves of sweet potato. There is land around or in between their houses that could be used as homestead garden, but without access to water these families depend entirely on the hillside cultivation. There is no market around the village where they can sell their produce; they walk over five hours over the hills to reach the weekly market in the town of Gabela. Middlemen who go to the remotest parts of the village with their trucks to buy vegetables and fruits to transport to Luanda offer rock-bottom prices.
With financial support from USAID, Save the Children/US has been constructing a large reservoir for irrigation and to provide clean drinking water for over 350 families in and around this village. This construction, using a combination of community labor and materials provided by Save the Children, will enable these households to produce crops year round and will greatly reduce the distance they walk for water. Families who live in another part of the village have already approached Save the Children to construct a similar reservoir in another location.
Water, Health, and Public Baths
The sever shortage of primary educational schools in Angola has forced some 200,000 school-age children to stay at home. Other great worries for Angolan citizens are issues of health and basic sanitation.
With a view to changing this picture, the Government of Angola, with support from the international donor community, including the US government, created the Fundo de Apoio Social. The Fundo de Apoio Social has built, with the help of the community, a series of health posts and public baths. The bath and water wells erected in the area of Chiule, in Catumbela, are two examples.
The satisfaction of the local population with the project is great. Maria Natália, carrying water from the new well said, "the water well brought great happiness to my family." She remembered that "before we had to carry water from the river, but now the water is close to our house."
The impact of the project for the community is such that the traditional chief has taken responsibility for watching over the maintenance of the area. And it was in his active duty there that we found him, the soba, or traditional authority of Chiule. "We are a poor people, so we are satisfied with the help that was given us," said the Chief.
He said, "the project has been of great importance to the health of the population. Before, people had to relieve themselves in public and had to fetch water far from their homes."
The Fundo de Apoio Social came up with the idea to help the 1,500 inhabitants of the Chiule area, and the U.S. Government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), gave $19,000 for the construction project.
Another important health project was also executed in the area of Cahango, Benguela, by the Fundo de Apoio Social and was sponsored by USAID. The health post built there has the capacity to see 200 patients daily.
"The population is very happy because we have a medical post nearby and it's in good condition," explained patient António Paulino, who was having his blood pressure checked.
"Before I couldn't have my blood pressure checked because the hospital was so far from here, in the highlands."
For doctor Tomás Dias, the installation of the health post "was of great value to the population," since before "they had to travel great distances to have access to primary health care." According to the health professional, "the health post makes it possible to save people daily who are afflicted by malaria and severe diarrheic illnesses."
The provincial director of the Fundo de Apoio Social, Carlos Guardado, pointed out: "the need for health posts in Benguela is becoming more and more apparent." His concerns are backed up by data from non-governmental organizations working in the area, indicating that there is one doctor for every 50,000 inhabitants.
It is worthwhile to point out that another six projects dedicated to developing water, sanitation and health services were funded by USAID and are active in the region. In total some $45,744 was donated for the implementation of social projects. With the intent to implement other projects, Guardado appeals to the U.S. Government to "fund more projects because the needs of the population are enormous."
