Pendo’s Story: Keeping Safe, Clean Water Flowing in Mzogole, Tanzania
Your support helps communities flourish for years after safe water first flows.
In Mzogole, Tanzania, the need for safe water was urgent. Children were getting sick, and women spent hours collecting unsafe water.
For Pendo, a mother of three, prayer was her only way of combating the water crisis.
Because we didn’t have any alternative, we were very worried about giving the kids this water. All we could do was pray God would protect us and the kids.
To collect water for her family, Pendo had to dig holes in the sand of a ravine. Because people and animals bathed in the shallow water, it was extremely contaminated.
“When we go down there, you can walk around and see feces all around,” she said. “So when it rained, the feces would go into the river. You could see the feces in the water.”
We got stomach issues, especially diarrhea. We’d get sick, go to the dispensary for medicine, and continue on. We had to believe that only God could protect us from this. But because we had no other options, this is just how life was before the same water came
We’re grateful for friends like you who decide to intervene to make a difference.
You enabled us to partner with community leaders to build a safe water project in Mzogole, serving all 6,162 residents. Completed in summer 2024, the project uses solar power to pump water, treats it via an Erosion Chlorinator, and distributes safe water to tap stands, including one at the local school.
I know that God has answered our long-term prayer with the safe water project.
With safe water accessible, teachers at Mzogole Primary School began teaching students how to grow healthy food.
Pendo’s oldest child, 12-year-old Naomi, took home her new skills and began growing fresh vegetables for her family.
[Naomi] is creative, and she learned to garden at school…. The garden is possible from the safe water here.
12-year-old Naomi brought seeds home from school and started growing vegetables at home, watered and cleaned using safe water.
But to keep their garden thriving, Naomi and Pendo need safe water to keep flowing, day after day.
Up to 50% of water and sanitation projects fail within five years or less due to a lack of sustained operation and maintenance. This is why Water Mission integrates operation and maintenance into every solution to ensure long-term functionality.
Mzogole is enrolled in our Rural Water Cooperative program, which means the community receives formalized technical support from us. This includes quarterly follow-ups on areas like water quality and system operation.
Through professionalized services, Water Mission integrates operation and maintenance into our safe water solutions to ensure long-term functionality and impact.
Your generosity makes this possible. Two years after implementation, safe water continues to flow, and Naomi and her younger brothers are eating healthy, nutritious food.
We are grateful for your commitment to providing families like Pendo’s with health and hope that lasts for years to come.
Having this garden has contributed to my family’s food security because we know vegetables contribute vitamins that help the children grow.
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