UNICEF Yemen: Clean and sustainable water for communities in Sa’ada

The generous funding from the Qatar Fund for Development has enabled UNICEF to rehabilitate the Al Shalil Water Project in Sehar District, Sa’ada Governorate. Now, the project provides clean and sustainable water for about 6,000 beneficiaries from local communities and displaced people. The rehabilitation included the installation of a solar-powered system with the capacity of 33.66 Kilowatts, the installation of a water pump with the capacity of 22 Kilowatts and the installation of 1,100 meters water pipes network.

“The implementation took two months, which is considered a model of speed,” says Engineer Adel Abdullah Shattan, The General Manager of Rural Water in Sa’ada. “This project supported in providing water and offered  a great service to the people,” adds Engineer Adel.

Ahmed Hamad Al-Waili, aged 19 , was displaced  from Hamdan, Sana’a together with his 23 family members. The men, women and children in the family used to bring water from far distances by carrying it on their shoulders.

“I believe that the project has relieved us from the hardship we used to face. From carrying water, to washing dishes, washing livestock, and washing anything, if we wanted to wash it at home, there was no water. And now it is available, we no longer need to transport water from different and distant places. It is now available from pumps and pipes to our house. Now, the suffering has ended, and the hardship has ended,” says Ahmed Hamad.

Sarrour Ahmed Mahdi Atef, is 35 years old, lives with his family which consists of 27 members in Sehar District. Sarrour said that they used to suffer from a water shortage, and would fetch water by any means necessary, bringing it from distant areas, but now the situation has improved, and water reaches their home easily.

“The population is large, and water is not enough for their needs. This project is important to us, as water is the basis of life, and there is no life without water,” says Srrour Ahmed.

Mohammed Ghalib Al-Azzi, a 24-year-old teacher in Sehar, Sa’ada Governorate stands with a group of his students in front of the educational centre. “As a teacher for several students and as a high school student myself, I used to spend some of my time going to get water for us because it was not available in our homes,” says Mohammed Ghalib.

Now, Mohammed and his family consistingof 12 members can access clean and sustainable water easily compared to the past. “This project has served us greatly because we were suffering so much and were affected by the lack of water and its pollution. Of course, the project has contributed a lot to effectively providing water for us,” adds Mohammed.

Ibrahim Hamza Mohammed, is a 20-year-old volunteer teacher working at the educational centre of Sehar, Sa’ada. The centre now benefits from this project as the water reaches it constantly. “Water reaches our centre day and night and never stops, especially since the students stay in all day and sleep in it. They wake up at dawn for ablution, drink from it, wash their tools and clothes, and they do not complain about any water shortage. We used to complain in the past about the lack of water. These are great and very important projects supporting our lives.