Construction
Badezimmerbau
Construction of loam huts
There lived 4 widows with their children in the village without an own hut or plot. They lived under very bad conditions in huts made of wicherwork with hay. We have a plot of 500 m⊃2; (appr. 5000 sq. Ft) for these woman, and we built a loam hut, where the families found a new home. We also built a loam hut for the family of a man with an amputated leg, because the family had to live in a stable after the destruction of their house.
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Construction of huts for returning refugees
We constructed 150 new loam huts for the many returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran, and for the homeless from Moussassai where 170 huts were destroyed during the war in november 2001. Many thanks to the 'Auswärtigen Amt' and 'Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung'.
Construction of draw wells
We constructed around 770 wells to provide the school and around 35000 inhabitants of clean drinking water. The inhabitants draw water with a leather bucket from a depth of 12 meter (appr. 40 ft).
This was made possible by the many private donations, the 'Auswärtigen Amt' and the 'Wasserstiftung'.
Water Action Contest in Kyoto
Water for Afghanistan!
Katachel e. V. is a charity registered in Germany whose aim is to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Katachel e. V. is also registered with the Planning Ministry in Afghanistan as an international NGO and has been recognized as being very efficient.
This charity is chaired by seven women including two persons who regularly screen the bookkeeping. All activities are conducted during their spare time on a voluntary basis. Therefore, expenses for administration in Germany are under two percent of the total expenses of Katachel e. V. As a general rule, the charity does not spend money on public relations activities like newspaper advertisements, etc.
Katachel e. V. is supported by the German government. There are 350 registered members of this charity plus app. 350 persons who make donations without being a member.
Afghanistan- A land without clean water
1. The problem
Over several years, Afghanistan has been faced with serious drought. It almost did not rain from 1998 to 2001; moreover, in 2002, the rainfall was not sufficient. In the Kunduz Province, where Katachel e. V. is conducting its activities, it only rained on April 4 and November 27. This led to a series of problems:
The ground water level has fallen significantly so that the few existing old wells dried up. In addition, the water level of the rivers fed by the melting ice and snow of the Pamir region has also fallen to low levels.
• Therefore the rivers Gau Kush and Naqi that used to provide drinking water to the local population while the wells were dry, became extremely muddy.
• As a result the quality of the river water greatly declined due to the mud and also bacteria that occured especially during hot weather.
• This led to an increase in the occurance of infectious diseases and consequently a rise mortality rate in the region.
• Particularly affected by these health problems were women and children. A high child mortality rate affects old age care for the families, because in Afghanistan parents and grandparents rely on their sons for support in old age.
• In addition to these local problems there is the demand for clean drinking water by the Afghan refugees who are now returning to there home villages. Those refugees have had access to safe drinking waters in the refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan, and their immune system is not prepared for the contaminated water.
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2. The action:
Over the past few years, Katachel e. V. dug 550 ring wells in the Kunduz area to provide water to local families and the four schools that have also been built by Katachel e. V. (with a focus on providing education to the girls). 300 wells were dug in the year 2002 alone. Through these wells 25000 persons gained access to clean drinking water.
• The construction technology of the wells is adapted to the modest local conditions. They are made of concrete rings and are at least twelve meters deep to make sure that the ground water can be reached.
• Water is extracted with two buckets made of old tires. These buckets are fastened to a rope which is led over a reel. This enables the women to fetch water without too much effort. Most of the wells do not use pumps because they would stir up the clay at the bottom of the wells and thus affect the quality of the drinking water. In addition, hand pumps can only reach ten meters deep whereas buckets are not limited in this respect.
• The construction work was done by the future users themselves and Katachel e. V. just provided building materials like concrete rings, sand and cement, reels, buckets and ropes plus a certain amount of money to dig the wells. The construction was done with shovels and buckets by the future users on their own initiative and responsibility.
3. Impact of Implemented Action
• As a result of this project 25000 persons have access to clean drinking water, especially the women who care for their families.
• By using buckets instead of pumps to fetch water, access to water is guaranteed even when the water level of the wells changes.
• General health of the population has greatly improved because access to safe drinking water reduces the number of cases of diarrhoea.
• Life expectancy of the general population in the area is increasing.
• Life expectancy of the women particularly is increasing, because the water can also be used for sanitary purposes.
• As child mortality is on the decrease more children will be alive and available to care for the elderly. Therefore, the birth rate will also decrease which will improve women’s health and make a contribution to stabilizing the world population.
4. Stakeholder Participation
Kunduz province is situated in a remote part of Afghanistan. Most of its infrastructure has been destroyed by decades of war. The area is generally considered unsafe. Access is possible only with the support of the local government.
• Therefore, Sybille Schnehage has established a working relationship with the ruling parties since she started her activities back in 1994. After some negotiation, the ruling Taliban agreed to let her build a girls’ school , because this was a precondition to build a school for the local boys.
• After some years of trust building, the Taliban Governor of Kunduz even asked Katachel e. V. to establish a girls’ school in Kunduz.
• Recently, a working relationship has been established with the new local rulers and the central government in Kabul officially supports the projects of Katachel e. V. in Kunduz province and especially the village Katachel.
• The local population has been directly involved in all the activities. Construction and maintenance of the wells, for example, is done by the future users. This gives them an employment opportunity for some time and a sense of responsibility for the running and maintenance of the wells.
• Only local materials were used.
• Under the Taliban, the German Embassy in Kabul did not send diplomats to Katachel for safety reasons. Therefore, no government funds were made available and all the projects were financed by donations.
• After the fall of the Taliban, the projects were examined by the German Embassy and funds were approved for future activities.
5. Sustainability
• Since local technology and materials are used to dig the wells and the local population was involved in the construction work, there should be no obstacles toward sustainability.
• The Project Manager of all the activities of Katachel e. V. is a man from Katachel who has spent some years in Germany to undergo surgery after being wounded during the war against the Soviet Union. He is the link between the German charity (German thinking) and the local community (Afghan thinking). The project Manager (Dadgul Delawar) is paid by the charity and is involved full time in the various projects such as: construction of wells, schools, houses for war widows, distribution of donations to war widows and their children and other needy persons like land mine victims, basic health care programs like screening for tuberculosis and worms and the relevant treatment.
• In addition, Sybille Schnehage has studied the local language and has repeatedly traveled to Katachel to examine the projects and build trust.
The project „safe drinking water“ is easily replicable and Katachel e. V. would be happy to continue in this direction.
6. Commitment
• Katachel e. V. has a long term committment to improve living conditions in Katachel and other villages in Kunduz. Since the German Government has approved funding, the projects will not have to rely exclusively on donations and the activities can be greatly expanded.
• The water project is just one aspect of our commitment. Beyond improving peoples’ health, it is important to increase the level of education, especially of girls and women. Only well informed young women who can sustain themselves through work outside the home can make an informed decision concerning marriage. The marriage age of girls used to be 15 years due to poverty and lack of education. During recent years we have realized that mothers, even the war widows, are marrying their daughters later because of the regular income and schooling Katachel e. V. provides.
• For young men, a small shoe factory has recently been built up to give them employment and keep them away from the militias. This will provide income to young families and hopefully prevent the creation of even more young war widows.
The members and supporters of Katachel e. V. have a vision of a truly „sustainable Katachel“ and beyond:
1. safe drinking water leads to better health
2. basic health programs and donations that enable widows to buy food make an additional contribution to the health of the population
3. schooling for boys produces a new generation that is better informed, that has better job perspectives and is less susceptible to get involved in civil war activities
4. schooling for girls produces a new generation that will get married later, have fewer children, give better care to their children due to their higher level of education and will be able to sustain themselves and their children through work outside the home
5. occasional trips to Germany by the Project Manager and occasional trips of Sybille Schnehage to Afghanistan broaden the view of the village population, showing them that peace and stability plus a high level of education lead to a brighter future.
7. Pertinent information, originality and innovative ideas
Innovative technology was not used in this project, but rather made use of local knowledge, traditional technology and local materials. The main aspect was that money raised by Katachel e. V. could be used to provide building materials and pay for the people who would dig the wells to avert a major water and health crisis. Enlightened management by the local project manager and visits by the president of the charity ensured the fair distribution of resources. As a result, a large number of wells were constructed for a minimum amount of money, focussing on providing clean drinking water to the poorest members of the community in an economic environment ruined by war, civil strife, drought and lack of education.
The main task of our organisation Katachel e.V. is to give support to the people of Afghanistan aiming at helping them to build up their destroyed country and to shape their own future.
All the funds of our organisation are completely devoted to this aid, without any administration fees.
