IAS Water project in Sudan

Abstract: Northern Bahr el Ghazal area in southwestern part of Sudan was severely affected by the civil wars in Sudan. This has led to lacks of development in most areas, not least water supply. In combination with a high number of refugees returning to the area the water situation is very difficult. This study is made to investigate how the water project of International Aid Services (IAS) is working. First I wanted to get a good image of the different areas connected to the IAS water project such as community mobilization, drilling and water source and sanitation education. At the time of my studies the Community Mobilization Unit (CMU) had just began their work, therefore the system with Water Source and Sanitation Committees had not yet been really implemented. However, some had been formed but not trained. The drilling is performed using two different methods, Mud Rotary and Air Flush. Mud Rotary is used in clay soil and Air Flush is used in more rocky soil. One of the main problem issues is transport, mainly transport of drilling machines, well material and water used during drilling. Problems in the means of transport are the terrible conditions of the roads which also lead to terrible conditions of the vehicles, especially the heavy vehicles which are very old. Another main problem is supplies, especially supplies of spares for the vehicles and equipment but also food and other essentials. Many things have to be brought from other countries via Khartoum and then by lorry to Northern Bahr el Ghazal. One of my conclusions is that much weight must be put on the county community mobilization to really involve the local people in the project so that they feel responsible for the well after it has been handed over. This is crucial to get full impact of the project. Another conclusion is that if supplies could be handled through Southern Sudan (Juba) it could cut down transport time and costs. But this cannot be realized yet since the range of things in Juba is rather limited compared to Khartoum. Finally I believe that the personnel must be very observant for coming breakdowns and report this immediately to enable ordering spares, etc. as soon as possible and minimize the time standing still.