Water Provision for Kavumu Village, Mayange, Rwanda

CED first met with Pastor Charles Semwaga, a leader in the Faith Centre Church based in the capital Kigali, in January 2016, when Charles shared his vision to help the small community of Kavumu. Following site surveys, discussions with the local government, the local community, and the Rwandan water company WASAC, a project scope was agreed. This included:

• 50 x 5,000 litre ferro-cement rainwater harvesting tanks, one for each household.
• Training in the construction of these tanks.
• A 50,000 litre bulk water storage tank for the WASAC mains water supply which had been cut off due to inadequate recovery of water costs and remains an erratic supply often only available at night.
• Training for each household in the use of ‘Kitchen garden’ food production
• Home improvements including new window and doors, concrete floors, rendering the outside walls and protection to the wall foundations

The project started in January 2019 with the rainwater tank training and construction. Despite  the interruption caused by the worldwide Covid pandemic, the project was largely complete by 2022. All local purchasing of materials, management of construction works and local cost control was carried out by Pastor Charles Semwaga with support from CED.

The gratitude of the local community can be summed up in the words spoken by one of the ladies. “ This project has taken us from a time of No Hope to Hope  for the future”

A spin-off from the CED project was the involvement of two UK churches in the construction of a nursery school and a Church building / Community hall.

The area is now attracting new residents and people come from surrounding areas to collect water from the bulk tank. The village now has a local shop and electricity has arrived.

Who benefitted from the scheme?

Kavumu village was originally constructed by the Rwandan government for Rwandan refugee returnees and consisted of 35 (eventually 50) very basic mud brick, 2 room houses, each being a home for an average family of 6. The bulk tank serves a further 700 people.

Who did CED partner with?

Faith Center Ministries.

What did it cost and who paid for it?

The project cost £73,000, funded by Littlestone Charitable Trust, Wilmslow Wells for Africa, Life Trust, St. Mays Olvestone, personal donations and CED.

Case History – Water Provision for Kavumu Village, Mayange (PDF)