Water For Sigli

On 26 December 2004 a Tsunami affected the Aceh region of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This region suffered greater impact than any other. Mortality was high: some 120,000 dead and 114,000 missing. Survivors suffered reduced circumstances and lacked necessities. Millennium sought to provide some relief in the form of clean water.

Millennium teams had already been active on the west coast of northern Sumatra, where relief efforts are concentrated. The east coast has been ignored. The town of Sigli is located in the northeastern part of Sumatra. It also suffered damage. It is overwhelmingly Muslim. Over 6,000 people from Sigli are missing, presumed dead. Representatives from the town had been asking consistently for help. They were invited to NGO meetings, but offered no resources.

Millennium donated water purification units to Sigli that were welcomed warmly. The townspeople have the capability to operate the units. Millennium donated funds to purchase a pump to evacuate salt water from their wells. Wells pumped of salt water refill with fresh water. The purification units are then deployed to draw water from the desalinated wells, moving from well to well.   Over time, remaining contamination in the water wells will diminish to the point where the towns and villages will have less reliance on the purification units. Given that four gallons of clean water per day is the average individual rate of use, the units deployed can provide water for over 9,300 persons per day.

The purification of water is one of the aspects of the relationship that Millennium is building with the town of Sigli to further other goals.

 

James Clark