Mideboka

The villagers love the pump but it is often broken. There used to be a fence around before, but not anymore. The biggest challenge is that during the dry season the pump does not reach sufficient depth, so there is no water during prolonged periods of drought. But the other pump (installed by UNICEF) is repaired and works now. There has been a period of two years that the pump did not work, until UNICEF came to repair it. The maintenance of the small hand pump that we installed thus depends on the workings of this pump. If this one breaks down, the motivation to maintain the small pump is much higher. The villagers explain that this big pump is too complicated to repair, but the small pump can be fixed by Bertin. The advantage of the UNICEF pump is that there is water throughout the year, as the pump reaches much greater depth.

Mideboka is one of the villages with a ‘traditional structure’. The old king has to take decisions related to the pump, together with the village leader. When a traditional ritual takes place, the king uses the water from the river because the pump does not belong to the ancestors.

Learn more about the king in an introduction to Marofarihy village.