CWEF Interns-Water Projects

These past two weeks CWEF hosted six high school interns from Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS) to help with various projects. I accompanied these six interns to two villages in Yunnan, one village that does not currently have a water system in place and another village that had a water project installed last fall by CISS. We interviewed families from both villages accessing the needs of the village without a water system and accessing how the new water project has helped the other village. Thanks to the interns hard work, we were able to gather all the information into a concise report laying out the villages needs and how a water project can help.

Two CWEF interns with a village woman

A few facts about village life:

• The majority of families work as farmers raising cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and horses.
• Most families eat two meals a day, morning and evening, that consist of corn, potatoes, rice and vegetables. Meat is eaten on the rare occasion.
• The average annual income per family is 1,300 RMB or 200 USD.
• This particular village's closest water source is 3 km away. Depending on if the family owns a horse cart dictates how often they get water. If they have a horse cart they can retrieve water once every 3 days and bring back 400 kg. If they do not have a horse cart, they need to go 1-2 times a day bringing back 40 kg each trip in buckets. This water is used for cooking and giving to livestock, rarely is it used for bathing.
• Each villager washes their hands twice a day, in the morning and at night. They give themselves a sponge bath every 10-15 days.
• The highest education level paid for by the government is elementary school so most villagers only have an elementary education. On the rare occasion someone will have finished middle school.

A village woman and her son during an interview

A few facts about a village with a completed water project:

• Before the water project:

-There was one water source in the village but it would often run dry and was not clean.

-Families bathed every 10-15 days to once a month.

-Villagers wash their hands only twice a day, morning and night.

-Less crops were grown and less water was given to livestock.

• After the water project:

-Families are able to raise more livestock and grow more crops increasing their annual income.

-Villagers bathe every 2-3 days washing their hands 3-4 times a day or if dirty.

• The annual income for a family ranges from 0 RMB (villagers survive off of their crops but make no extra money) to 5,000-6,000 RMB (750-800 USD) all the way up to 20,000 RMB (3,300 USD)

Water from the new water system installed by CWEF and CISS

"Generally, the villagers recognize that a simple necessity like water is a gateway to a better life. With a new water system the villagers are able to find ways to provide for themselves rather than depend on donations. Water leads to more money, more money leads to more education, and more education leads to success."

-Written by Heather Taylor, CISS Intern