Post-Delegation October 2025: From Vision to Impact

We’re excited to share the successful completion of our October 2025 delegation!

Over the past two and a half weeks, our team worked alongside local partners, schools, and community leaders to strengthen access to clean water and support practical water education across northern Tanzania. The following sections highlight the main accomplishments and milestones achieved throughout this mission.

Main Activities

Completion of the Qash Primary School Rainwater Harvesting System

Over the past two and a half weeks, our team worked hand in hand with the Qash Primary School community to complete an 82,000-liter rainwater harvesting system that will provide reliable access to clean water for years to come.

The system collects rainwater from the school’s rooftops, channeling it through gutters into a sedimentation tank designed to trap larger particles before the water enters the main storage reservoir. During construction, we encountered unexpected variations in elevations that affected the installation of the sedimentation tank — the first in the system’s flow sequence. By adjusting elevations and redesigning pipe connections on site, we ensured proper flow dynamics and effective sedimentation. The final configuration maintains balanced hydraulic pressure and consistent filling rates, optimizing water quality and reliability across seasons.

The school’s principal played an active role throughout the process, coordinating between workers and ensuring the project’s smooth progression. The local community also took a leading part — leveling the ground, casting the concrete base, and organizing a handover ceremony to mark the completion. Their collaboration turned this project into more than an engineering achievement — it became a shared effort toward sustainable, long-term access to clean water.

Successful Filtration Upgrade at Mbulungu Primary School

At Mbulungu Primary School, our team continues to refine and improve the existing water filtration system as part of an ongoing development process. This is the third delegation working on the same system, with each visit focusing on advancing its design, durability, and long-term performance.

We are still in an active development phase, working toward a reliable, durable, and easy-to-maintain filtration model that meets our full technical and operational standards. Each delegation builds on the lessons learned from previous visits, upgrading components and improving flow dynamics step by step until we reach a final version we are fully confident in and ready to endorse.

The current system operates effectively and provides clean, safe drinking water for students and teachers. It includes two filtration stages, with the second stage relying on gravity to increase pressure and improve filtration quality. This version represents another important milestone in developing a long-term, sustainable solution that will serve the Mbulungu community for years to come.

Successful Technical Training & Educational Outreach

Education and community engagement are central to every project we build. During the construction of the new system at Qash Primary School, the process became more than engineering — it became a shared experience of learning and connection. Together with teachers and students, we explored where rain comes from, how the system works, and why access to clean water is essential to daily life.

Our educational approach includes several learning modules, each designed for different age groups and for different stages of our collaboration with the schools — whether during the first construction phase, after one delegation, or even two years later. These modules turn water and sustainability into a continuous learning journey that grows along with the schools and their communities.

At Qash, this experience was especially meaningful thanks to the inclusion of a special needs class with children who have hearing, vision, and developmental disabilities. Making sure that every student could take part and learn at their own pace made the project not only more inclusive, but also more deeply connected to the community.

Clean water may be the goal — but the real achievement lies in the people who learn, build, and grow togethe

School Principals Seminar:

As part of this delegation, we hosted a seminar for 26 school principals, system caretakers, and local representatives from the Babati district. The session was designed to strengthen collaboration between schools and to deepen the shared understanding of system maintenance, education, and community involvement.

Beyond the technical discussions, the seminar created an open space for dialogue about everyday challenges, collective responsibility, and mutual support among schools. Together, participants explored ideas around communication, long-term maintenance, and local leadership, sharing insights from their own experiences.

The discussions emphasized the need for stronger integration of water education, better access to replacement materials, and closer coordination with local authorities. The seminar concluded with a shared understanding that sustainable impact depends not only on infrastructure, but on trust, participation, and community connection.

Field Tours and Future Expansion: 

During this delegation, we conducted a series of field assessments across the Babati district in collaboration with our long-standing partners — RUWASA, STC, and CCA. These visits allowed us to evaluate existing systems, identify new schools with potential for future installations, and gather feedback directly from communities. We also explored additional wards and schools as potential sites for upcoming delegations, laying the groundwork for the continued expansion of our rainwater harvesting and filtration initiatives throughout the regio

Strengthening Partnerships: We continued to build on our strong relationships with local partners, holding productive meetings with RUWASA, STC, and CCA to align on future plans and share updates from the field. Alongside this, we actively sought out new partnerships that could enrich and expand our community work. Meetings with FIDE and OIKOS opened discussions on innovative approaches to water access, education, and local empowerment. These collaborations help us bring in new perspectives, learn from different community models, and constantly look for ways to grow, improve, and adapt our work to local realities.

Our delegation also met with local and regional politicians to discuss long-term planning, coordination, and support for future projects. Having the backing of local government is essential — it ensures continuity, legitimacy, and real integration of our work within the district’s broader development efforts. These relationships give depth and stability to our projects, helping turn individual systems into part of a wider regional effort for clean and reliable water access.

Looking Ahead

This delegation marked an important step forward in our ongoing journey to expand access to clean water and strengthen community partnerships across Tanzania. Each project deepened our understanding — technically, educationally, and socially — and reminded us that sustainable change grows from collaboration.

As we look ahead, we are focused on building upon the systems, relationships, and insights gained during this mission. The connections formed with schools, local authorities, and NGOs open new opportunities for future delegations, continued innovation, and wider impact. With every visit, we move closer to our goal: creating resilient, community-led solutions that ensure clean water for all.

FYI 

RUWASA: Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency

STC: So They Can Organization

CCA: Chem Chem Association

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Bring them home NOW! 🎗️