ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the difficulties associated with providing sustainable water supplies to communities living in the rural area of Chicomo in Southern Mozambique where ground-water is up to 93 metres below the surface. Drilling a borehole and installing a hand pump in a rural community is an event for celebration, especially for women. Community involvement in the selection of the site promoted a sense of ownership of the process, increasing the chance of sustainability and participation both in training and in financially contributing to the cost of repairing and maintaining the pump. The community of Ndimande are pictured with their Afridev hand pump, which they have learned to dismantle and reassemble. The Government of Mozambique's National Directorate of Water authorises the use of two hand pumps, the Afridev for depths up to 60 metres, despite the manufacturer's recommended limit of 45 metres, and the Volanta for boreholes deeper than 60 metres.
