Water for Bisesmus

Background:

Let us introduce you to a village called Bisesmus Village. Bisesmus village is located in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, it’s surrounded with beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife. Despite its looks, Bisesmus village is suffering with 852 residents who have to suffer every two to four times per month to obtain access to water. Most Bisemus residents are betel leaves farmers, where 60% of water is mainly used for their irrigation system. Yet, these villagers have to buy jerry cans of water with a price of $6.73 per cans for a maximum of 2 weeks usage. Furthermore, the villagers also need to walk 2-3 hours along with those heavy jerry cans of water every time they buy the water. The circumstances force these residents to spend most of their income and time providing clean water for consumption, washing clothes and plates, as well as farming.

Bisesmus Village Conditions:

What about the other 852 residents of Bisesmus Village? They have to sacrifice a lot of their money and energy to take their right to life, which is clean water. Moreover, 60% of Bisesmus Village residents work as betel leaves farmers, thus they also have the same routine for collecting water. Their average income is around $23.55 per week and it comes mainly from planting betel leaves, followed by being farmers and labourers. Sadly, betel leaves are not in season, which causes their revenue to decrease even more. At the same time, summer increases their demand for water. With such hardship, Bismesmus villagers need to spend Rp. $6.73 for water worth 2 weeks usage.

4 years ago, the local government did try to provide clean water access for Bismesmus village through diesel power. Unfortunately, the facility stopped working because it needed a large amount of operational fees. When our team visited them, some of the machines were already broken.

Their biggest goal is to have a better quality of life despite living in rural areas. With access to clean water, the villagers could locate the money for other necessities that would increase their productivity rate. Unfortunately, this goal cannot be achieved without enough financial support for the water machine. That's why your support will mean a lot to the people of Bismesmus Village!

Our Solution:

The importance of water for Bisesmus Village made us realise that we should immediately extend assistance. Then what is our relationship with Bisesmus Village? We, Solar Chapter Irvine and Taiwan, are subsidiaries of a non-profit organization called Solar Chapter, which aims to realize the dreams of Indonesians who do not yet have access to clean water and optimal quality education.

The solution we offer for the problems in Bisesmus Village is a solar water pump system that will bring clean water sources closer to the villagers' settlements. The illustration above is a description of the water distribution project for Bisesmus Village. The Bisesmus Village water project requires 2 water reservoirs, 1 submersible pump, 6 solar panels, and water pipes. The lower reservoir, which is located 23 meters from the spring, will be used as the first water reservoir. The lower reservoir is equipped with a solar-powered water pump which will pump water to the upper reservoir which is located higher than the hamlets in Bismesmus Village. Water from the upper reservoir is then distributed to the hamlets by utilizing the earth's gravity. For the time being, the elevation between the lower reservoir and the two hamlets will still be determined, bearing in mind the importance of considering which hamlets have a high level of difficulty in getting clean water.

Story of Bismesmus Villagers:

Water is a basic necessity we all need and have no second thoughts on accessing it. However, for Ibu Mago, a 52 year old resident of Bismesmus Village, water is something she has to work for.

She has to travel 1 km to collect clean water which we often use in vain. In one day, she must go 3 times to collect clean water; and every trip took her 1-2 hours. On each trip, Ibu Mago carries 4 containers containing 20 liters of water which will be used for daily activities such as taking shower and washing clothes, with addition of gardening, weaving clothes and raising livestock animals as part of her job.

“If there is no money, we are forced to walk to the source of water. Even though the trip was very tiring, we still forced to walk. The trip is super difficult, having to walk long distances on broken roads for 1-2 hours each time. The road goes up and down, feels like I’m going to be dead soon.”

Ibu Mago stated, when she couldn’t walk to the source of water, then it’s time for her to depends on buying jerry cans of water. Unfortunately, she could only buy the water whenever she has the money. She spend Rp.100.000,00 everytime she buys the water, which resulted 5 litres of water that will last for around 1-2 weeks. There are 8 people living in her house, hence clean water is very crucial for their daily life.

Cost Breakdown: