Building Wells is Engineering.
We Empower Women through engineering training.
We Transform their lives with clean water.
Women empowerment
The Georgie Badiel Foundation trains over a hundred of women and provides basic engineering knowledge to perform wells maintenance. Most of them are illiterate or don't have school education.
In Africa and Burkina Faso, women are mainly the one who are responsible for fetching water.
They spent almost all their time to collect "blue gold". Worldwide, women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours - daily -collecting water. It's a colossal waste of their valuable time. The Georgie Badiel Foundation training is unique in West African region.
It helps to fight against the lack of water for household. In local communities, women are great managers of water resources and also perfectly head local water management committees.
Through our engineering training program, we empower women.
The courses are given by an engineer in hydraulics, water and sanitation with 6 years of experience and 2 repair craftsmen with more than 15 years of experience each. The engineer and craftsmen's degrees are recognized by the government. Courses are taught in the women’s own language, Moore which is Burkina Faso national language.
The engineering training program has 3 steps.
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Theoretical classes take place in our Ouagadougou’s office.
Modules:
• Wells, water pumps and boreholes – characteristics and operating mechanism• WASH campaigns and hygiene measures. Hygiene knowledge when operating around a water source to avoid any contaminations, mode of contamination and water-borne diseases
• Materials and tools to be used for repair or rehabilitate the wells
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Practical training includes two modules
Module 1: Diagnostic assessment
• Students visits different borehole and well drilling sites
• They learn how to assess what and how to repair
Module 2: Repair and information
GBF gives to each student a complete toolbox. Students learn how to:
• Remove and disassemble each part from the pump to the cylinder
• Replace parts and reassemble all parts of the water pump
• Modify the operating system
• WASH campaigns provided in the villages
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GBF team has recently completely trained and hired 4 women who are field supervisors. GBF donated a motorbike to each supervisor to go around supervise the wells. During the training process, advanced students are appointed local ambassadors. 2 ambassadors per village are appointed.
The network counts 50 ambassadors out of the 114 women who started/will start the training. The 114 women at least participate to the practical course in their village gave by the 4 field supervisors.
Ambassadors are in constant contact with all the well drilling operations of Tanghin Dassouri county and are in charge of diagnostic assessments, under the coordination of the field supervisors.
They do the first repair and inform also the local population about the boreholes’ maintenance. Supervisors then report to GBF head office in Ouagadougou about the functioning of each well and any breakdown.
If repair needs more assistance, they ask GBF to deploy the engineer team.
In process: GBF will issue certificates to its students at the end of the training. We are working with the Ministry of Water for the recognition of the diploma by the government.
Awareness Campaign
The Georgie Badiel Foundation is in partnership with the town of Tanghin Dassouri where there is 59 villages and more than 70 000 habitants. Our awareness campaign goes from school to village, from village to market. We sensitize people about hygiene practice and the importance of taking care of their wells. After the awareness campaigns, we proceed to the implementation or repair of their borehole. In order to build a sustainable project, we will absolutely have to change the mentality.
The campaignalso give educational tools on how building new wells, training women basic engineering to restore their broken wells in targeted communities where the community will be trained on well maintenance and saving programs to ensure that communities are able to provide for well upkeep in the long-term.
Creating Cooperative Saving for Well Sustainability
GBF will help each village to open a small cooperative savings account. A village committee, chosen by a community vote, will be 100% responsible for these funds. Every month, villagers will contribute a set amount that is chosen by the committee according the capacity and potential need for well repairs. This will allow funds to be set aside to restore the well after the partnership with the GBF has reached fruition.
The villagers will receive the training and knowledge necessary to sustain and maintain their own wells. They will also have their own funds to be independent and restore their own wells when the time comes to do so.
