Aid in Action

Water Flows Again for a Somaliland Community

 | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Beer (pronounced Bayer) village in Somaliland lost its water system in 2005 when flash floods hit the region, swept away water delivery pipes, and left a seasonal community well clogged with silt. Parents looked to their children for help and in turn students stayed home from school to help ferry water for livestock and household use.

USAID’s School Environment and Education Development for Somalia (SEEDS) activity, implemented by Mercy Corps, recently replaced old water pipes and the pump dynamo; refurbished the community water standpipes and constructed a new reservoir at the school.

Today the community’s rehabilitated stand pipe bubbles with running water and Mohamed Jama Harale, a Beer community elder, exudes excitement as he explains, “I am happy that my animals can now get water and my three sons and one daughter who are school age can get time to go to school.”