Our WaSH Programme

A lack of access to clean drinking water, safely managed sanitation and basic hygiene is a major barrier to other aspects of development. Fewer than half of Cameroon’s rural population have basic access to potable water and less than a quarter of households have access to safe sanitation and hygiene facilities. 

44% of the rural population collect drinking water from a safe water source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip including queuing.

Only 23% of the rural population have access to basic use of hygienic toilet facilities which are not shared with other households.

Only 22% of the rural population have access to a handwashing facility with soap and water at home.

To date, our student chapter in Southampton has successfully delivered seven hand-dug wells which provide clean drinking water. Our wells follow a typical design, consisting of precast reinforced concrete rings sunk into the ground to support an excavation below the water table, into a shallow aquifer. We use a standard and readily accessible hand pump that is familiar to local maintenance suppliers. Together these wells support a population of over 5,000 people. 

After joining in 2019, our student chapter at Imperial chose to focus on alternative sources of clean water to supplement those from our existing wells. In late 2021 they retrofitted a trial rainwater harvesting and storage system on an existing structure’s roof which filters and stores water in a concrete blockwork tank. 

In 2016 when our student chapter in Birmingham joined the charity, they took ownership of our Sanitation and Hygiene projects. After four years of research they have designed a communal ventilated pit latrine and plan to deliver their pilot project in early 2022. The latrine consists of a mortar lined storage pit which once full is left for 12 months and then emptied. The pits are ventilated by permanent pipes which reduce odours and trap flies.