Menkao spring of hope: World Vision commits to providing 25,000 more people with clean water
By Didier NAGIFI – World Vision Communications Officer, DRC
World Vision preceded over the official launch of rehabilitation works on the Menkao 4 spring in Menkao, within the commune of Maluku.The objective of the rehabilitation was to ensure that communities in Menkao 4 villages, Menkao 2 and the Menkao neighbourhood will have access to safe drinking water in a sustainable way. In the long term, the project aims to provide drinking water to around 25,631 people by 2035, with a maximum pumping volume of 511 cubic meters of drinking water.
In her opening remarks, World Vision's DRC West Zone Director Florence Mambu reminded community members of World Vision's calling as an international partnership of Christians, and of our mission to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God. In addition, she invited the people of Menkao to take ownership of the project to ensure the sustainability of their work.
in his address, World Vision's WASH Specialist, Paterne Aksanti, emphasised that the drinking water project aims to address the multiple challenges faced by the people of Menkao in terms of water, hygiene and sanitation. From a national point of view, it is a contribution to the achievement of sustainable development objectives and also a contribution to the prevention of the spread of water-borne diseases and the novel coronavirus, he remarked.
The traditional chief of Menkao 4, Sedou Ngavuka, welcomed the project with open arms, stating: "We thank World Vision and its partners for initiating the project to rehabilitate our spring, which will provide our population with drinking water. We are together. We have been without drinking water for a long time; we open our hearts to welcome this project with open arms".
Morever, the mayor of the Maluku commune, represented by the chief of Menkao District, François Mungamu, shared in hus remarks "...If we are witnessing this launch today, the community of this region must be delighted because the project of water on a plateau was an equation that did not find a solution, Today, a long-awaited appointment, just as the birth of Jesus Christ was expected in the East, has come true! The inhabitants of Menkao 4 are kindly asked to take care of the different materials and equipment for this project so that no unfortunate event is repeated".
The ceremony was marked by the laying of the foundation stone by the representative of the mayor, symbolising the launch of rehabilitation work on the Menkao 4 spring.