Water scarcity and sanitation is a huge issue in Somalia, with nearly all rural communities using unprotected water sources. These ponds, open shallow wells and rivers are used by humans and animals alike and along with poor sanitation can spread waterborne diseases such as cholera.

Furthermore, access to clean water is only getting harder as Somalia is badly affected by flooding and drought. In drought-affected areas of Somalia, women must walk miles to find water, risking violence or animal attack, in order to sustain their families and animals. They do this with the knowledge that the dirty water they have collected may well make their children very ill.

The building of a solar well will allow the Baidoa villages in Somalia to harness its most abundant resource of sunlight to provide clean water. The construction of a 100m deep solar well with two taps will provide 30,000 litres of clean water for domestic drinking, cooking, and laundry for the 500 inhabitants of the Baidoa villages. Not only will this allow people access to the water they need and contribute to making waterborne diseases a thing of the past, it will free up the time of women and children for work, study and play.