My final major project at Carleton University centers around solving water shortage issues in Longido, Tanzania. Longido suffers from chronic water shortages which lead to a variety of related problems. Poor health and sanitation are the result of a lack of access to clean water. Collection of water in Longido is an inefficient process, with negative impacts affecting mainly women and children. Women and girls spend a large portion of the day collecting water from a town reservoir, waiting in line for several hours, or walking up to 10 kilometers to gather water from the fresh water springs (known as oceans) on Mount Longido. When it rains, people put out buckets to collect the rain, but most of the water goes uncollected and is washed away in seasonal rivers, sometimes leading to flooding.
Much of my initial research focused on agriculture and related issues. The main issues to be solved
were protection of the plants from wildlife, insects, and goats, along with increased water collection for agriculture projects. There have been successful agriculture projects from Testigo Africa, and it was decided early on that rather than create new agricultural methods, the project should build
on the successes that Testigo has already had in Longido. Eventually I moved towards rain water collection; the lack of water is the main problem hindering agriculture and leading to a variety of other issues, it should be made a priority. My main focus is now eaves troughs and storage tanks for developing areas such as Longido.
