Lukanga Swampland Development - November Rain.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce the completion of our most recent water project in the Lukanga Swamp lands of Zambia. This has been a turbulent year for everyone, so it is always good to focus on some positive news. This is one of those stories that we should all take a moment to feel good about. 

Our most recent project strived to secure a sustainable and clean water source for the people of Lukanga. And as of last week we hit water! There has been no shortage of problems, from storms and subsequent inaccessible roads to covid-19 related delays. But with all of your help, we have succeeded! 

The need: 

The Lukanga region is a major wetland in the central province of Zambia that is heavily reliant on fishing as their main source of food and income. And while flooding is an annual occurrence, they have been severely affected by their ability to access safe water for consumption and irrigation. One of the main reasons for this is they had previously been accessing drinking water from shallow and often hand dug wells. And the ongoing problem with this was their shallowly dug wells water being negatively affected by waste and other contaminants. The result is inconsistent access to drinking water and a community constantly affected by Cholera and other waterborne diseases. 

The Solution:

November Rain helped fund a heavy hydraulic drilling rig to travel into the swampland and punch an impermeable pipe deep into the ground. The reason for doing so was that the specialised equipment was able to push the pipe down to new depths. The result is that water from deep underground aquifers has been reached. This is a great result as it is sustainable year round free from contaminants. The pipe is impermeable preventing infiltration of human waste and other toxic substances from lower water levels. 

How this will affect the community: 

Access to safe and sustainable water will have a multitude of effects for this community. The first being a drastic decrease in sickness due to infection from waterborne diseases such as Cholera and Dysentery. But another direct benefit of this infrastructure is it will provide water in order to irrigate crops. This area historically has been heavily reliant on fishing as the primary source of income. But year on year the annual catch has been diminishing. There is a need to diversify both food and income sources. This deep water well will allow more consistent and higher yielding cropping. And as a result will also provide more food and income stability to the region as a result of more horticulture.