Zambia
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Winfreda Malilave holding a glass of clean water from the CAFOD-funded borehole.
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Christine lives in Zambia with her four children, and her nieces and nephews. She is a single mother and is HIV positive.
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Esther Siantobolo, collecting water at the government funded community tap - the only safe water source in her village.
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Rosena drinking clean water from the CAFOD-funded borehole in her village.
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Angel and Rosena collecting water from the only protected water source nearby: a government tap which doesn't always work.
Declining copper prices and prolonged drought have seriously damaged Zambia's economy, and three-quarters of its ten million people live on less than 60 pence per day.
On gaining independence from Britain in 1964, Zambia became a one-party state – a situation that lasted for 27 years until President Kenneth Kaunda agreed to multi-party elections.
At independence, Zambia was a major copper producer, but declining copper prices and prolonged drought seriously damaged Zambia's economy during the 1980s and 1990s.
The HIV epidemic has become a dominant health and development problem in Zambia. The HIV prevalence rate among adults is estimated at 21.5%, though recent figures show an encouraging decline in the prevalence among young adults.
CAFOD's work in Zambia includes:
- Providing emergency food for people affected by drought
- Setting up community gardens so people can grow food for themselves and to sell
- Training people in business skills
- Setting up boreholes and wells, and training local people to fix them when they break down
- Helping people plan and adapt to future droughts.
Esther Siantobolo lives in a community whose lives have been deeply affected by the lack of availability of clean water. The village has a tap, but it is controlled by the government, who can't afford to pump water constantly.
