TOROLI, 22 March 2007 (IRIN) - Like in many villages
throughout the arid Sahel region of West Africa, a source of water is
often the most animated place in town. At a
given time 20 people might
gather at a well, stretching their backs and arms in the harsh sun to
hoist a few buckets of water from dozens of metres below the parched
earth.In the village of
Toroli in Mali, 10-year-old Amadou waits for his father while sitting on the
family's camel instead of going to Koranic school. As his father,
Brahima Barry, a Fulani shepherd, explains, Amadou
has to help the
family gather water. The well is located several kilometres from their
home."We have to go to the well to get water for both the family and the animals," Barry
said. "If water was more accessible, it would change a lot of things in my life."Because of the water scarcity in Toroli, 200km from the regional capital, Mopti, Barry's sonmisses school to help transport the water back home on the camel during
several trips. Poor water quality affects the family's health and its
finances if someone falls sick from contaminated
water and needs to go
to a clinic.At least half of all deaths in Mali are caused by
diarrhoea and malnutrition-related causes, according to a demographic
and health survey commissioned
by the government in 2005.The water problem - its scarcity and poor quality - is
repeated across West Africa, especially in the arid countries of the
Sahel region, including Mali,
Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad.
The United Nations on Wednesday is marking World Water Day to call
attention to issues related to water. 'Coping with Water Scarcity' is
the
theme for this year. "Finding water takes most of people's time," said
Mathias Diassana, head doctor of the health centre in Koro, 150km from
Mopti. "Often women spend
more than five hours [per day] getting water
for domestic use" while men spend time gathering water for livestock. There are two traditional wells in Toroli and two water
pumps,
which have better quality. This water, however, is not free.
Purchasing water poses a heavy burden on many Malians, most of whom
survive on less than US$2 per day, according to the United Nations."The people don't have money to pay for the water they
are consuming and they also have no money to contribute for the
construction of deep wells, because it is very expensive,"
said Fayiri
Togola, technical adviser for the UN children's agency (UNICEF) in the
Mopti region.With water so scarce in the 79,000 sq km of the Mopti
region, people look for whatever
sources they can find. The water table
is usually more than 60 meters deep and some water points have dried up
altogether because of the drought. As a result people look to water
sources that are
easier to access."In this region, there are many places that do not have
water points, even some health centres do not have water," said
Diassana. "This is why people...are
getting water from natural ponds
and this is not good - it brings public health problems."In the village health center in Koro, Diassana said that diarrhoea is the most common ailment after
malaria. With the support of UNICEF, health workers at centres
in Mopti are trying to educate the local residents to change their
behaviour."To eliminate the water
problem people have to be
taught techniques to purify water," said Togola. School children who
learn these techniques can help bring about change, he said.Toroli resident Amadou Mtogo and 10
other people
gathered in their village about six years ago to discuss their
community's health and hygiene's problems. As a result of those
discussions and measures taken to improve water
quality, infant
mortality dropped 12 percent in the last five years, said Togola.
However, people still seek water from contaminated sources, which
continues to spread illness."You can educate people about good behaviour but if
there is no clean water this problem can't be solved," Togola said.
"How do you want people to change if they don't have
the necessary
water to drink and practice good hygiene? How do you want them to send
their children to school if don't have the means to survive"?jv/dh/cs/vj
