ICRC helps villagers harvest rain

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has installed rainwater catchments in the villages of Mudja and Rusayo, northwest of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, that will provide some 5,000 people with supplies for drinking and agriculture, the organisation reported on Wednesday. Some 800 homes were individually equipped with a metal sheet, a 300-litre barrel and a jerry can to catch rainwater. For those whose roofs could not be fitted with a metal sheet, communal rainwater collection points with 4,600-litre capacity were established at schools and churches. Prior to the installation of the catchments, villagers were obliged to fetch water from Lake Kivu, some 17 km away. ICRC Head of Mission Elizabeth Twinch told IRIN that the project was carried out in collaboration with local health authorities and volcanologists studying nearby Mt Nyiragongo, which continues to spew a range of chemicals into the air. Twinch said that the quality of the rainwater was "very carefully studied" and that high fluoride levels were found. She said authorities would continue to monitor the quality, closely. "It was agreed that it would be better that the people have more or less clean water than no water at all," she said.