CHRISTIAN ENGINEERS IN DEVELOPMENT
A group for Service in Developing Countries
 

Kilolo Sustainable Development Programme

Aim and Location

The programme's objective is to enable the population of four village communities in the Kilolo sub-District of Iringa District, Tanzania, to address the underlying causes of their poverty.

The four village communities forming the target group are Lusinga (population 1,500), Kilolo Chini (pop. 3,500), Luganga (pop. 1,000) and Utengule (pop. 3,000). They are comprised largely of small-scale subsistence farmers on low incomes, suffering from ill health, without ready access to clean water, with inadequate sanitation and with limited access to education. Gender integration is poor and traditional taboos inhibit acceptance of new development ideas.

The principle factors contributing to the people's poverty are seen to be:

• A lack of understanding of the causes of poverty,
• A lack of gender integration and community empowerment,
• Low productivity, arising largely from ill health,
• Diseases, especially water borne diseases, sapping the energy of the people,
• Unproductive time spent by women and girls fetching and carrying domestic water, often of poor quality, over long distances.
• Limited access to education, leading to illiteracy that contributes to the perpetuation of traditional development retarding practices.
• Inadequate sanitation and hygiene education,
• The high incidence of HIV/AIDS.

In pursuit of its goal "to have empowered community living life in its fullness", the Anglican Church of Tanzania, Diocese of Ruaha, in consultation with the local community and other agencies has drawn up a sustainable multi-disciplinary development programme to address the issues outlined above and meet the needs of the people.

Results

To assist in this endeavour the Diocese of Ruaha sought the assistance of CED in 2001 for the conduct of feasibility studies, preparation and costing of the engineering design for the water supply elements of the project, and help in approaching donor agencies for funding. CED entered into a partnership agreement with the Diocese and, in close collaboration with local agencies, prepared a detailed multi-disciplinary project proposal, which has been submitted to the European Commission and other private groups for joint funding. The programme involves: the construction of a 18 km gravity pipeline, supplying 400,000 litre/day of clean water to serve a potential population of 13,000 people, health clinics and the new secondary education boarding school being built by the Diocese; educational seminars and community participation programmes arranged to cover health education, improved sanitation, gender equality, agricultural productivity and harvest management, business skills and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Role of CED

CED, as the design authority, will act as fund holder. It will assist the Diocese of Ruaha with technical advice and a degree of supervision during the implementation stage, account for expenditure and arrange for monitoring and evaluation of the programme.

Total Cost of the Programme

The total cost of the programme is estimated at €477,755 (£295,000)

Project Donors

St Michael’s Church, Chester Square, London have funded the design and preparation of the project proposal at a cost of £2,600. Applications for implementation funding have been made to the EU (under their PVD programme) and Comic Relief.