We recently received an update on the Gonok Village deep borehole well project.

Over the past few months, REST (a Relief Organization of Tigray, and regional non-profit partner of the Glimmer of Hope Foundation) has worked with the Gonok community to establish a WASHCO, which is a very small unit of government created to take care of the water project and a tabia-level board for the new Deep Bore Hole well. The WASHCO includes 10 community members and the tabia board consists of experts on water supply, agriculture and rural development, health institutions, women’s affairs, education, and farming.

This is important because in the past we have not had this level of structured management around our DBH projects. While there has been a WASHCO associated with Glimmer water schemes, the new WASHCO is larger and has defined responsibilities. The tabia board is a new addition to Glimmer DBH project management, and it will help the Gonok community manage the day to day activities associated with the DBH and also act as an advocate for the Gonok community if there are issues that need to be escalated to the woreda level, such as major repairs.

The community has opened a bank account for the DBH, in which the woreda and the community deposit money into as well as any tariffs collected after the DBH is in use.

This is interesting because the money has been collected upfront, which shows that the local government and community are strongly committed to the project!

The project continues to move forward and we are excited to see the conclusion of this massive project in sight. The following will be happening in June and July:

  • Site clearing for water distribution points
  • Purchasing and supply of local materials, like sand and gravel
  • Bidding process for solar pump
  • Trench excavation and pipe installation for water distribution network
  • Construction of water reservoir stand