MCC helps build sand dams in Mozambique
By Tim Shenk
Sept. 24, 2007
AKRON, Pa. – Water is one of the most urgent needs in semiarid African regions such as Mandie subdistrict in central Mozambique, where people walk for miles to reach the nearest functioning well or flowing river.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is helping people in Mandie to create new water sources by building concrete dams, called sand dams, that store hundreds of thousands of gallons of water under a layer of sand.
Sand dams are built across seasonal streams to catch water that normally rushes away when it rains. Local people scoop the water from nearby wells and use it for drinking, bathing, irrigating gardens and raising livestock.
Men and women in Mandie are currently building four sand dams with technical assistance, cement and steel bars from MCC. Next year, MCC is planning to help build 10 sand dams in central Mozambique, followed by 16 in 2009. The projected cost per dam is $15,000 U.S. or Cdn.
The idea of building sand dams came from Kenya, according to Steven Hochstetler Shirk, an MCC Mozambique representative. Over the past 11 years, MCC has helped build more than 130 sand dams in Kenya with impressive results.
In March, Shirk visited Kenyan sand dam sites with a group of regional government officials and leaders from the Christian Council of Mozambique, an MCC partner organization. Shirk says the group came away with a strong impression that sand dams could change the landscape in dry, desolate areas of Mozambique.
In Kenya, sand dams make it possible to water bananas, peppers and other crops that could not grow otherwise, Shirk says. They provide drinking water for thousands of people and save men, women and children from making grueling treks to collect water.
In Mandie, the lack of water keeps rural families from growing the food they need. The subdistrict suffers from food shortages for about seven months each year, according to Shirk.
People in Mandie are doing most of the work to build the sand dams, including collecting stones, digging trenches and mixing concrete. Shirk says local men and women have volunteered to build the dams because they are eager for relief from food shortages and the exhausting task of hauling water.
"This isn't a theoretical problem that somebody from the outside is trying to convince them they should care about," he says. "This is their daily life."
An audio interview with Shirk is available online at mcc.org/podcasts.
Tim Shenk is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.
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Photo available: Women carry stones to build a sand dam in Tchinda, Mozambique. (MCC photo)
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