Congolese Tap Into Lake Kivu Amidst Water Crisis

GOMA, CONGO - JUNE 05: A boy fetches water directly from the Kivu Lake. If the residents come to the lake and fetch the water, they do not pay for the water and a worker from Solidarite will inject a dose of chlorine, on June 5, 2014 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Congolese in the North and South Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are blessed with a great water resource, the Kivu Lake, but as the country continues to tackle numerous infrastructure challenges, people in rural areas receive limited access to safe water and sanitation facilities. In big cities such as Goma, water from Kivu Lake is being drawn and sent to three water processing factories, serving 1.2 million people in 16,000 tap stands. Yet, it is hard for the entire population to enjoy this increasingly sparse resource for a land-locked country like the DRC as most households do not own water mains or sewage and people living in the countryside or refugee camps heavily rely on the pumps installed by NGOs. According to recent reports, the European Commission will provide an additional 5 million Euros in humanitarian aid to conflict victims in the DRC, but there has also been delays with funding to proceed with joint projects. In the hard-to-reach villages, residents often do not get their water delivered or the pipe gets broken and villagers end up walking for more than five kilometers to the lake or buy water from vendors for 200 Congolese Francs (CDF) per 20 liters in yellow jerrycans, four times the usual price. (Photo by Jean Chung/Getty Images)