NEPAL – Rembu village water project

Rembu is a small village of some 31 houses located in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal, an area where the Sherpa community lives and farms. Here also are villages of the Rai community, the two castes living happily alongside each other. Rembu is a small Rai village which depends for its livelihood on farming and cattle. There is currently no regular water supply to the village, so villagers must trek up to a river in the jungle above the village to collect water and carry it back down to the village. The Rai communities typically lose out when community funding is provided by the Government, so without outside help there is little likelihood of Rembu getting a regular water supply direct to the village.

However, our funding will allow the laying of a water pipe from the river in the jungle above Rembu, the installation of a storage tank in the village, and the provision of a water tap in the yard of each of the 31 houses, thus ensuring a permanent water supply to the community, for both domestic use and for farming and livestock. Aggregate and sand, for the construction of the concrete used in the project, will be obtained from the river by the villagers, who will also supply the labour for the construction work.

Each villager will be expected to contribute a small annual sum to cover any necessary maintenance, this payment will also ensure that each villager understands his or her responsibility and their level of commitment to their project.

With 31 houses, the hamlet of Rembu comprises some 180 people, each of whom will benefit from a direct and permanent water supply, a benefit to the village which will help to change lives.