New Boreholes Increase Access to Clean Water in Juba’s Jebel Area

New Boreholes Increase Access to Clean Water in Juba’s Jebel Area
This story was originally published by USAID South Sudan.
Before the construction of the new boreholes, residents fetched water from a dirty, open sources. Photo by Betty Poni.

On October 7, the Jebel community in Juba celebrated the launch of two USAID-funded boreholes that have improved access to clean water and reduced the risk of waterborne infections for approximately 255 households (1,530 people).

The project is also enhancing peaceful co-existence among Jebel’s diverse community, which includes many people who were displaced by conflict elsewhere in South Sudan.

Residents previously drew unclean water from a nearby stream, and the influx of new residents created tension over access to water. Unclean water has led to cholera outbreaks in South Sudan.

Women in the community advocated strongly for improving access to clean water. Women now fill eight of 14 positions on the two water user committees responsible for collecting water user fees, and seven of the 15 members of the Jebel Community Enhancement Team that USAID helped residents establish to promote community improvement and collaboration.

Peter Tombe Charles, chairperson of the Jebel Community Enhancement Team, said: “Everybody spoke the same language, the language of mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence with each other, no quarrel and fighting. We should be proud of that because without our cooperation and peaceful co-existence in Jebel quarter, we could not have come up with such projects.”

Global Communities is implementing the USAID-funded Promoting Resiliency through Ongoing Participatory Engagement and Learning (PROPEL) program which uses a locally-driven, learning-focused approach to work with communities in South Sudan and help them identify, prioritize and implement projects to improve local resiliency.