Feb 2010: Power crisis worsens in Jambiani

The news from Jambiani continues to be extremely grim. Still no power = no water. There are more cases of cholera in the village this week, with the death of a 19 year old man. To make matters worse, Dr Hamza was admitted to hospital for surgery, and Mr Pandu is looking after his needs, as well as doing his best to organise the distribution of water lorries on our behalf. We appear to be on our own in this mercy mission, but we felt we simply could not ignore the anguished pleas for help which we continued to receive.  Even the government generator lent to the north village has broken down, so now the whole village is without a safe water source.

 ZAP has a real dilemma, since we cannot continue to be the main providers of water to a community of 8,000 for much longer without seriously prejudicing our ability to sustain our other projects. So far we have spent over $3,000; it is depressing to realise that this is ‘dead money’, so to speak, and one could certainly take the view that it would be better spent on a long term solution. The problem is – what solution? Mr Vuai, in response to ZAP’s request, has obtained a formal quotation of $12,000 US dollars (plus VAT, unless this is waived) for a generator of sufficient power to run one of the two village water pumps, together with an ‘assurance’ from ZAWA (Zanzibar Water Authority) that they would run and maintain it. Two of these generators would be needed, and experience warns us to be sceptical about any official promises.  

Many concerned ZAP supporters have put forward suggestions for alternative power sources, such as wind, wave or solar energy - even the simple ‘no nonsense’ Elephant Pumps which are so effective elsewhere in Africa, but which are not suitable for a large community such as Jambiani where the safe water wells are at some distance from the village. Unfortunately, all these ideas sound good in principal, but are either a) impractical, or b) too expensive. Certainly, an alternative source of power has to be the long-term answer to Jambiani’s problems, but sadly this would require far more money and commitment than we are able to afford.  We are a small charity, not geared to large-scale emergency relief.

The extremely successful fund-raising event in Norfolk (see News Bulletin on ‘Grand Quiz Night’) took place during the current power/water crisis in Zanzibar, amid awareness among our friends in the UK that the community which ZAP has undertaken to support was in extreme need. We were deeply grateful for the generosity of everyone taking part, and we do feel confident that ZAP supporters would approve of the emergency aid that we are giving, but it can only be a temporary measure and in a sense our response has put us in an invidious position. We continue to lobby as hard as we can for recognition of the horrible suffering of the Jambiani villagers – both through large aid organisations, and locally – via a newly-formed Pressure Group of village elders whom we are encouraging to make a loud noise in official places. Unfortunately, as we have said before, Zanzibar seems doomed to be ‘beneath the radar’ internationally, and a remote rural fishing community miles from the capital still more invisible.