Transforming Lives Through Water in DRC

Volcanic rock is embedded deep in Kibumba, making borehole drilling for clean, safe water impossible. However, from December to July, it rains often in Kibumba. Building rain catchment systems, including water collection tanks, spigots, and filtering directly in the villages is an incredibly sustainable way to provide access to ongoing clean, safe water.  

Children used to walk twenty kilometers for a single jerry can of water in the dry season.

Now we are helping them build hundreds of rain catchment systems. 

Water is Basic (WiB) has been collaborating with the TransformDRC on our WASH projects in the DRC for the past decade.

First, we provided 5,000 Sawyer Filters to all 5,000 households, removing water-borne diseases from their daily lives. 

However, in the dry season, water to filter can be as far away as twenty kilometers. So local women and men are building long-lasting forty-year rain catchment systems, meaning water is available year-round. To date, we have built 110, and we are not letting up till clean water is an afterthought to these folks.

Responding to Displacement

Tragically, the ongoing conflict has displaced the Kibumba water committee and rain catchment construction teams, forcing them to leave their homes and live in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Despite these challenges, their work continues.

Now residing in one of the 8 IDP camps near Goma, the team has shifted their efforts to building rain catchment systems for the displaced communities where they live. These systems, with capacities of 15,000–20,000 liters, provide vital access to clean water for families

Importantly, these rain catchment systems are constructed in strategic locations—such as congregations, homes, and community centers—ensuring they will remain in use when people are able to return to their communities.

Access to water is more critical than ever. WiB and our partners remain committed to providing clean, sustainable water solutions to those in need, even in the face of displacement and uncertainty. Together, we can bring hope, health, and stability to these vulnerable communities.

Join us in making a difference.

WHY WE THINK THIS IS SMART

WOMEN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN – Women care about water. They want their kids to be healthy and their daughters to be in school. That’s why the water committee in Kibumba is fifty percent female.

FROM TEMPORARY TO PERMANENT – Something as important as water should not rely on organizations that can potentially lose funding or pack up their bags. With our funding they know how to build tanks that will last for decades.

IT’S GOOD FOR THE LOCAL ECONOMY – It rains here, a lot! Kibumba can a breadbasket for all of Eastern DRC growing the food to fuel their future. Clean water means healthy workers in the fields, growing the food for the future.

IT’S SIMPLE – One rain catchment system provides water for several households. Easy to maintain. Easy to enjoy. That’s how water should be.

IT’S REPEATABLE - Once we built one, the rest are the same. One rain catchment tank every week, and before you know it, these folks won’t need us anymore.