Clement and Macleaner live far from any main roads on a mountainside in rural Zambia. In 2010, our WaterAfrica travel team visited World Vision’s Luumbo Area Development Project (ADP) where we met Clement and Macleaner.
World Vision began development work in this region in 1998. In 2009 they installed a project designed by their ZWASH team (Zambia Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) to capture water flowing from a natural hillside spring. Community members dug and laid pipes and were trained in maintenance of the system, which includes storage tanks and water treatment. At the time of our visit this project piped water to 53 households.
We visited with Clement and Macleaner while standing in their 120 ft square garden filled with cabbage, tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables. A drip irrigation system watered their carefully tended crops.
Clement told us about the difference having access to water has made in their lives. He and Macleaner have four children and he said that the biggest impact of the water is that his children will not starve. Without water they had no way to care for a garden, but now they are able to feed their own children. Villagers from surrounding communities now come to their village to buy food. This income allows Clement and Macleaner to buy clothes for their children and he said they can also afford important medical supplies.
Our 2010 interview with Clement and Macleaner is featured at the beginning of this video.
