Ezéchiel Nibaruta
Imagine a classroom where students are parched, their uniforms soiled, and the air thick with dust and despair.
This was the reality at Bwiza-Bweranka Basic School in northeastern Burundi’s Ngozi province, where the absence of clean drinking water and sanitary facilities affected students’ well-being and academic performance.
Headteacher Apollinaire Ndikumana recalls the sad situation, with students trekking long distances to obtain water for their school.
“Pupils were thirsty, wearing dirty uniforms that smelt of sweat,” he reflects.
The classrooms, filled with dust, offered little comfort, and the latrines were unsuitable, emitting a nauseating odor.
Under these challenging conditions, it was no wonder that school success rates declined.
“We studied after traveling long distances to bring water for drinking and cleaning—lest we study in a dirty classroom,” Rafiki Niyonkuru, one of the pupils at this school, narrates.
However, this dismal chapter is now a story of the past, thanks to the groundwater project established in 2022.
Today, a water tap supplies not only the school but also the surrounding communities, marking a significant improvement in the educational environment and the students’ overall well-being.
With pumped groundwater now flowing and accessible, Ndikumana observes that this saves time – with learners spending more time in class and the success rate has improved.
The transformation story of Bwiza-Bweranka Basic School underscores the importance of groundwater in solving water challenges faced by the population. This school of thought is shared by different scientists and institutions like the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).
Dr. Abel Nsabimana, a hydrology expert who lectures at the University of Burundi, points out that Burundi has 5,000 sources of drinking water with a flow rate of more than two litres per second.
He however adds that these sources are not enough to supply all the population- hence the necessity to turn to groundwater drilling.
The groundwater in Ngozi province falls under the Kagera aquifer. This is shared by Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. According to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Kagera aquifer covers an area of about 6,300 Km2.
The water abstraction in this aquifer is estimated at 3.25 million m3/year, and groundwater is used primarily for water supply of rural communities.
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is a cooperative arrangement initiated and led by the Nile riparian countries to promote joint development, protection and management of the common Nile Basin water resources.
Seleus Ntunzwenimana, a manager in the Directorate General of Water and Sanitation, believes that groundwater is very important for the supply of drinking water in schools and health centres where Burundi’s Régie de Production et de Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (REGIDESO) is unable to reach.
Today, learners at At Bwiza-Bweranka Basic School attest to the new state of the school environment. “none of my classmates suffer from hygiene-related diseases anymore. The teachers have taught us to wash our hands often, clean the classrooms and latrines daily to avoid hygiene-related illnesses,” says one of the learners Aicha Mugishawimana.
The transformative impact of groundwater use is now felt beyond the school. Emile Ndikumana, the head of Bwiza-Bweranka Hill notes that the exploitation of groundwater is a step forward for the area.
“Previously, it was a hill without drinking water,” Ndikumana elaborates – referring to his area. “The population fetched water from far and it was a burden. Now, with this tap, the population fetches clean drinking water and for other purposes from nearby,” he adds.
According to the NBI technical report, groundwater helps reduce the risk of waterborne diseases, as it is generally of better quality than surface water sources.
This story was produced with support from NBI Secretariat (Nile-Sec), which, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented a program across the Nile Basin focused on shared groundwater aquifers. The project’s goal was to improve water resource management at both the national and basin levels.
The first phase concentrated on building knowledge and capacity for the sustainable use and management of significant transboundary aquifers within the Nile Basin. Three aquifer areas were selected for intervention: the Kagera aquifer shared by Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi; the Mt Elgon aquifer shared by Uganda and Kenya; and the Gedaref-Adigrat aquifer shared by Sudan and Ethiopia.
These aquifers are located in various climates, including arid, semi-arid, and tropical regions. Initially, the phase involved gathering existing data and creating a Shared Aquifer Diagnostic Report (SADA) for the three selected aquifers. The subsequent phase engaged in groundwater modeling to enhance understanding of the aquifers and analyze scenarios based on changes in climate and groundwater use.
