The valleys and hills of Kigali, Rwanda are more than just a study in rainwater drainage. They're a picture of separation, a story of need.
Catch an international flight into Rwanda from anywhere, and Kigali is your arrival airport. Located at the eastern edge of the capital city, it's one of four paved-runway airports in the country. Flying into Kigali on a clear day, you'll be able to see that wealth in the city drops along with altitude: hilltops are the places for the newest, most expensive homes; in the valleys are the slums.
The lower the altitude, the lower the income. It's like this for two reasons: there are no sewers in Kigali, and there's a lot of rain. City runoff and drainage flows down from the hills to form valley streams, and it's in those streams where the poor collect their water.
In an age when water catchment and filtration technology exists in abundance, much of the drinking water in Rwanda is unsanitary. Water-borne diseases like cholera and typhoid are widespread as a result; additionally, curable and preventable sicknesses like diarrhea and trachoma are killing and permanently disabling people every day. Rwanda's high childhood mortality rate, about one in five, is closely linked to the prevalence of deadly diarrheal diseases.
You can get involved in working for solutions to this water crisis in Rwanda by joining or supporting our Water Team. These volunteers are building and repairing rainwater filtration systems and sand filters as well as pursuing methods for better health, hygiene, and sanitation in Rwanda. It's the kind of work that can impact whole communities at a time—find out more by contacting info@marshill.org.