Deep well construction - Gouye-Ndiogou, Senegal

The water situation in the Senegalese villages is, in some cases, dramatic. To retrieve water, women and children must often walk kilometres day and night so that they can provide water for their large families (8-10 people). The first deep wells were financed and built from “Help for Africa – Water for Senegal e.V.” in 1993. These were dug per hand by the local well builders – often a very difficult job since during the rainy season (approx. July until September) the wells cannot be built in the traditional way. Since then, the association has been working together with a company that can construct the wells with modern devices. So far 65 wells for approx. 50,000 village residents have been built, whereby the villages have participated financially with a sum of money for the construction of “their well”. This creates a sense of responsibility which guarantees that the wells are considered by the village residents as their property and are therefore properly cared for and maintained.