Integrating Water and Community: A Case Study in Rural Cameroon

The Hope College Student Chapter of EWB-USA, in partnership with the Life and Water Development Group - Cameroon, recently completed a community scale water resources program with a rural farming community in Northwest Cameroon. The program included the following components: a gravity-based water distribution system consisting of a diversion dam, 10,000 L storage tank, 27 tap stands, and more than 9 km of conduction and distribution pipeline; household scale water filtration that included on-site construction of 180 concrete Manz biosand filters; and health/hygiene education for women's groups and other community stakeholders. This paper describes the organization, planning, and implementation of the system components while also examining some of the broader impacts related to community development within the host community. Emphasis is placed on the overall project timeline and the identification of appropriate technologies based on feedback from the community. The paper will also discuss challenges that were encountered in the early phases of the program due to a lack of participatory planning.