Local Partnerships, Lasting Impact: WASH for All in Bikoro

“Clean water is a lifeline. With ongoing cholera and mpox epidemics in eastern DRC, children and families need safe water now more than ever to protect themselves and prevent a deeper health crisis,” stated Jean Francois Basse, UNICEF‘s acting Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in March 2025

“Around the world, children in protracted conflicts are three times more likely to die from water-related diseases than violence. Re-establishing essential services needs to be prioritized, or we risk even more lives.”

And, according to UNICEF, “Over the last decade, cholera has killed over 5,500 people in the DRC, where only 43 percent of the population has access to at least a basic water service, and only 15 percent has access to basic sanitation.”

In June 2024, the World Bank reported that the DRC “is one of the largest and most populous countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s also where people encounter one of the lowest rates of access to water and basic sanitation.”

It is because of these sad facts and more that Bread and Water for Africa® established a partnership to develop WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) projects with the grassroots organization Appropriate Technologies for Congo, Association Sans but Lucrative (TAC Asbl), in Kinshasa and its program manager Lucien Beele in early 2023.

“I learned of Bread and Water for Africa® through a Google search while researching NGOs working in the WASH sector,” he told us after reaching out to Bread and Water for Africa® executive director Beth Tessema in December 2022.

In his request, Lucien explained that he was seeking grant funding for a well at the Lac-Tumba Primary School in the community of Bikoro on the edge of Lake Tumba, the oldest school in the territory with 1,500 students.

“The school has no drinking water easily accessible to students or staff,” he said. “The lack of clean drinking water sources forces the students to drink contaminated water from Lake Tumba.”

For the students and staff, it was literally a matter of life or death.

“As a result, not long ago, a cholera epidemic claimed the lives of many of these students.”

Today, we have partnered again with Lucien and TAC Asbl to construct six wells in the Bikoro region of the country’s Équateur Province, benefiting thousands of individuals in communities including Mekoko and Bonsende through its “WASH and Health for All” program.

“This project’s main objective is to improve access to clean drinking water for approximately 5,780 people in a sustainable way,” says Lucien. “This will significantly reduce waterborne diseases, such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever.”

Lucien explained that each of the communities that will be benefiting from a well equipped with a hand pump will be consulted during the planning process on matters such as the well’s location, “to ensure optimal use and sustainable maintenance of the wells.

“Additionally, we will organize awareness-raising sessions to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices, thereby strengthening local capacities to maintain these infrastructures.”

Lucien noted that this project is part of a sustainable development and community empowerment approach, which will directly impact:

•     Public health by reducing diseases linked to contaminated water.

•     Health expenditures by reducing costs associated with medical care.

•     Community resilience will be promoted through local and sustainable water resource management.

Among the targeted communities is the Ikalanganya neighborhood located in the Bikoro territory, where “residents obtain their water from nearby ponds and rivers, which are often untreated and contaminated.

“This situation promotes the spread of waterborne diseases, which compromises the health and well-being of the population,” says Lucien, adding that “the presence of a school in this neighborhood underscores the importance of safe access to drinking water. Children who should be focusing on their education are often forced to collect water, hindering their schooling.”

Installing a well in the Ikalanganya neighborhood would have a significant impact, notes Lucien.

“It would improve public health by reducing water-related diseases and allow children to devote more time to school.”

Lucien explained that, as it stands now, the situation is dire for the residents in the targeted area who “depend on unprotected water sources such as rivers and swamps. This situation particularly affects children and women, who spend several hours a day collecting water, to the detriment of their education or economic activities.”

However, “by bringing water sources closer to homes, women will save an average of two to three hours per day, precious time that they can devote to income-generating activities, educating their children, or participating in community life.

“This improvement in daily life contributes to the empowerment of women and the social stability of villages.”

In sum, “by providing clean, reliable water, we aim to improve the health of local communities and ease the daily burden on women and children who must travel long distances for unsafe water.

“Working in remote areas is challenging,” adds Lucien. “In our search for appropriate technologies, we strive to remain flexible, adaptable, humble, and responsive to be effective.

“This requires a lot of listening and developing respectful relationships with the villagers. They are our teachers and guides as much as we are theirs.

“By reducing disease, improving access to water, and strengthening local capacities, this project will contribute to a lasting improvement in the quality of life of rural populations.”