Picturehouse Water
Niger update
As you may be aware, there is currently a severe food shortage in Niger and according to the United Nations, approximately seven million people - almost 50 percent of the population - are suffering from severe or moderate food insecurity. Some children aren’t going to school because they are too hungry.
Plan is currently implementing a food security project in Niger in partnership with the World Food Programme, which supports canteens in nine schools and replenishes cereal banks. Plan has already distributed 1,000 tonnes of cereal in Tillaberi, western Niger, helping around 73,000 people.
The Niger appeal was launched by Plan to help with the funding of 11,000 tonnes of food aid, which will boost cereal banks and provide nutritional support for over 13,000 children under the age of two. More information can be found at: www.plan-uk.org/action/emergencies/nigerfoodcrisis/
Luckily, none of the communities that Picturehouse Cinemas has supported in Niger have been affected by the crisis. However, any funds raised over the £11,000 target to complete Picturehouse Cinemas’ current water project will go directly to Plan’s emergency relief work in Niger.
City Screen has teamed up with international children’s charity Plan, to bring running water to children in Niger, West Africa by launching its own brand of water.
Ten pence from every bottle of water bought at a Picturehouse Cinema is being used by Plan UK to provide boreholes to communities in the Dosso region of West Niger, one of the driest regions in the world.
Project Background
In March last year, the first borehole was drilled in the Marbize community and is now benefiting 300 people. Previously villagers were walking up to 3 miles to collect water which was not fit for drinking.
Plan UK helps children and families to obtain the maximum benefit from their projects through the community playing an integral role in the creation and management of project activities. To ensure project sustainability, members of the Marbize community received training on water management and were provided with tools for repairing the pumps. The community also agreed to sell the water and use the funds for regular maintenance for the borehole. To facilitate this, training was delivered which taught community members how to open a bank account to safeguard funds received from water selling.
The installation of the borehole in the Marbize community has resulted in:
• Significant improvements in children’s health.
• Reduced levels of disease and infant mortality rates.
• An increase in school enrolment rates, as fewer children are absent from school due to illness.
• More recreational time for children, particularly girls, who no longer have to spend hours each day walking to collect water.
Zara, 12 years old
"Hello, my name is Zara. Other kids of the community of Marbize and me are happy to have our new borehole. Before, it was very difficult for us to get water. Our well is really deep and dangerous for us children. With the new borehole there aren’t any risks and we can safely go and get water. Also the water from the pump is clean and this means we’re not at risk of diseases. Great thanks to Picturehouse and Plan for this brilliant support."
Current Project
In 2010, we are aiming to raise nearly £30,000 to bring clean water and sanitation to a community called Bagouma Baba Fari in the Dosso region of Niger.
This project will provide drinking water and training to improve hygiene and sanitation for 310 community members and aims to improve the health of this community, reduce the spread of disease and increase the amount of time children and adults have to dedicate to their education and livelihoods. The borehole will be supported by the community itself with funds generated from selling potable water. Updates on this project will be provided in the near future. With your ongoing support we can provide them with their basic right to clean water.
Children from the Bagouma Baba Fari community:
"We are Bakita, Alhassimatou and Rahina. We are 17, 16 and 15 years old. We all come from the same village, Bagouma Baba Fari. We have lots of difficulties in terms of fetching water, it is so hard. During this rainy season, we have to wake up at 4:00am to come to the well, to be able to go back home early and prepare to leave for the farm at around 6:00 or 7:00am. All women in the village come to the well at the same time, with only 3 bags to fetch water. One needs to be patient and wait for her turn. Sometimes, women quarrel around the well during that long period of waiting. After the harvest, we will love to do gardening, but because of the water scarcity, we just have to forget about that idea. Our hands are very hard because of fetching water."
Lyn Goleby, Managing Director of Picturehouse Cinemas, said "Cinema is a universal language in bringing the world together. We felt that it was time to stop just watching other people and time to start making a difference."
With your ongoing support we can provide these communities with their basic right to clean water.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!
Plan
Plan is a child-centred community development organisation with no religious or political affiliations.
For 70 years it has been working with local communities in the world’s poorest regions to build schools, drill wells and train health workers.
Plan has benefited 10 million children and their families in just under 50 developing countries.
Make a donation, visit Just Giving
If you are interested in discovering more, or would like to sponsor a child, please visit www.plan-uk.org or call Plan on 020 7482 9777
Registered Charity Number: 276035
