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In Kerawa, a locality in Cameroon’s Far North region that shares a porous border with Nigeria, villagers used to trek for hours to fetch water from unprotected sources before walking back carrying jerrycans.
The water supply network fell into disrepair in the locality while the population explosion caused by immigration forced by fighting between government forces and gunmen drove up demand.
“There are more than 10,000 people living in Kerawa and we used to trek for four to five km to fetch water on the other side of Nigeria,” said Seini Tipou Malalha, traditional leader of the village, stressing that the search for water was a daily struggle.
“We used to drink unclean water and people were falling sick, especially of cholera. (Sometimes) Nigerians will come to sell water to us at very expensive prices,” said 45-year-old Hadja Yaritou, a local resident.
In July, engineers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worked every day down in the trenches to improve the water supply in Kerawa. They created a narrow, deep hole in the ground that started generating water.
“It (the borehole) has made a real difference for us all,” said Yaritou, a mother of seven.
“Water is life. (With the borehole,) the water problem has abated,” Malalha agreed.
The risk of waterborne diseases has been reduced and the community will continuously access clean and safe drinking water for their good health, said Popol Manzala, ICRC engineer who was in charge of the project.
The borehole is just one example of the ICRC’s projects to provide water in the region.
In Mokolo town of Mayo-Tsanaga division, a water treatment plant and related facilities that were supplying water to hundreds of people were becoming obsolete. Following an agreement with the state-run Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (CAMWATER) in 2020, the ICRC refurbished the structure which provides water to the Mayo-Sava and Mayo-Tsanaga divisions.
“Since then, production levels have increased. We used to produce 2,100 cubic meters per day and after (the renovation of the water plant) we are at 5,000 cubic meters daily,” said Haman Mohamadou, Far North regional manager of CAMWATER.
“The impact was quite significant. ICRC has equipped CAMWATER at the Mokolo water plant with laboratory equipment that analyzes and monitors the quality of the water. And the water that is actually produced at the Mokolo water plant is well treated. So the quality is really impeccable.”
“Practically 45,000 people have benefitted from the production in the Mokolo water plant (since it was renovated). These are internally displaced people, host communities and refugees from the conflict in the Far North region in general,” Manzala said.
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