Drop in the Bucket is a California-based charity that builds wells and sanitation systems at large rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Below is an excerpt taken from Drop in the Bucket Director Stacey Travis’ blog –Water in Africa: the view from the ground:

By: Stacey Travis, Drop in the Bucket Director

We will never make any headway in the battle against Neglected Tropical Diseases if we don’t address the issue of sustainability.  The word is becoming so overused these days that it seems to be losing some of its impact and importance. The truth is if you are providing clean water sources without considering the long-term success of the facility, you run the risk of doing more harm than good.

Take boreholes for example. This mechanism used to extract clean water is provided to community through outside funding and resources. Boreholes are great tools to provide access to clean water, however, they need maintenance over time. Over the past few years, I have seen a staggering number of broken and abandoned boreholes. This is the dirty secret that nobody wants to talk about.  It’s almost as if organizations see it as some sort of failure on their part if their hand pumps don’t work forever, but that’s not where the failure lies. Continue reading →