Oxfam GB :: Emergencies - Tsunami Crisis: Turning on the water

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Turning on the water

Maryamah with her new shower. Photo: Jim Holmes

Before the tsunami, Maryamah had no running water in her house. Now, thanks to an Oxfam water project, she and 1,250 other tsunami survivors can do the washing up and take a shower in their own home.

Losing everything

Maryamah had lived quietly in LhokNga, on Aceh's northwestern coast, for 25 years until the tsunami destroyed her home and family. "The waves came and swept me away. I lost my parents, relatives and property."

In 2006, Maryamah's family moved into a new home, built by the Turkish Red Crescent on the site of their former one. The task of supplying them with clean running water was taken on by Oxfam.

A new water system

Contructing the water gravity system. Photo: Jim Holmes In February 2006, Oxfam started constructing a water gravity system to link the community with a water source, a river in the hills above the village. Environmentally sustainable, the system channels water down to LhokNga through a 1.7 km-long water pipe.

It took nearly 18 months at a cost of 1 billion rupiah ($110,000) to install, but by August 2007, Oxfam, with help from UNICEF which provided 20 km of plastic piping, had connected 715 homes to the water grid.

Water on tap

Today in LhokNga, 1,250 people receive running water direct to their homes. "I am very happy because before Oxfam came we had to get water from the well," smiles Maryamah. "It's easier now to do my daily work."

Homes with running water remain fairly uncommon in many parts of Aceh. But after the tsunami the world pledged to build back better. Connecting people and homes with water is part of Oxfam's commitment to do that.

Back at home, the 39-year-old mother of two rinses the morning's last dishes. "It was hard work pulling water from the well by hand. We used to also take a bath near the well. But now I have a shower like in a hotel. I love it!"