WATER FOR
BOMBULULU
& ST. JOSEPH.
"Ziwa la Ng'ombe" freely translated means "place where the cows are watered". The state school is located on the edge of Mombasa, in the slum of Bombolulu. Over 1200 children from grades 1 to 8 are currently taught in eight classrooms. English is a compulsory language. For the children here, school attendance is both a blessing and an opportunity. Many of their peers are denied this in Africa. Despite compulsory education, many parents can neither buy the prescribed school uniforms nor learning materials. The average income in Bombolulu is 30 Kenyan shillings a day, the equivalent of about 25 cents.
From January 2013 to January 2016, two water treatment plants were built in Mombasa together with the Udo Lindenberg Foundation: An individually developed "Waterbox" for the public school in Ziwa la N'Gombe and a system for the training center in St. Joseph House of Hope.
The so-called "Waterbox" (developed from WaterIsRight) in Ziwa la N'Gombe supplies more than 2,000 people at the public school in a slum area of Mombasa. The system is almost maintenance-free and only needs to be checked twice a year. A smaller system enables the self-sufficient supply of 400 students* and teachers* of the St. Joseph House of Hope. Since the start of operations, drinking water has also been sold to the surrounding, rapidly growing community.
This means a considerable financial relief for the entire community: before the installation they had to pay 30 Kenya shillings per water vessel to the local water supplier. With the installation this price has dropped to five Kenya shillings per vessel. The income goes directly to the St. Joseph House of Hope, which can grow steadily and become more and more self-sufficient.
The total volume was 55,000 euros, of which 35,000 euros came from the Udo Lindenberg Foundation. The remaining amount was financed by donors and proceeds from Rolf Stahlhofen´s benefit concert in Mannheim. The line-up included Gentleman, Rolf Stahlhofen, Andreas Bourani and Fools Garden. In 2018 the St. Joseph House of Hope got a water box like the one in Ziwa la N'Gombe.
The goal of WaterIsRight and the Udo Lindenberg Foundation is to establish a training center for this type of water treatment plants in Africa. In the future it will be possible to train people who can independently take care of such systems in other regions and pass on their knowledge.
5.000L Water tank
Drilling wells
5.000L Water tank