Kalonge Cifunzi (Part 1) Water Project Report

We extend our deepest gratitude, first and foremost, to our Lord Jesus Christ for granting us the opportunity to prepare this report. Together with the entire population of Kalonge, we constantly thank BHW for its support in constructing water infrastructure for our village—a community long neglected by the Congolese state. Since January 2025, Kalonge has continuously received displaced people arriving from Kalehe, Nyabibwe, and even Minova. These populations, fleeing the war, have tripled or even quadrupled the number of residents in the area.

Cifunzi, which comprises more than eight sub-villages, has seen its population swell to include thousands of households. The primary problem is hygiene: there are no latrines, no viable sanitation infrastructure, no water supply, and so on. Cifunzi is famous for its overcrowding, where people are crowded in the centre of Cifunzi. It should be noted that the mortality rate listed in Cifunzi, linked to the lack of water, is estimated at 5.6%, which is enormous. From an initial estimated population of 23,572, Cifunzi is now home to over 53,170 people. Following advocacy by ACLUP to BHW, the first water tap in Cifunzi began flowing in February 2026. Residents can now collect water close to their homes. However, the capacity to supply this entire population with adequate water remains limited. Due to financial constraints, BHW proposed funding the project in two phases: November 2025 and August 2026. The plan was adopted and implemented accordingly. The first phase has been completed, and we eagerly await the second phase starting in August, which aims to finish the project and meet the needs of the entire population of Cifunzi.

Recent Events

To begin this project, we first had to bring together the entire population of Cifunzi (the centre part) and that of the southern part. The initial objective was to reach a compromise on how to carry out the project and where to start, given the resources at our disposal, which prevented us from beginning immediately. Thus, we agreed with the community to start with Cifunzi Centre: Karhishishi, which we did.

The people of Cifunzi welcomed this water project with great joy. For many, it was the very first time they had seen water flowing from a tap, as an 85-year-old woman testified. "I see a miracle before me. I didn't know that the water from our spring would bring us water at home," she said.

A Long Wait and the Obstacles of War

The project began at the start of December 2025. The engineers got to work, and with the collaboration of the local population, they had to prepare a site where a tank would be built to store a large quantity of water. During this time, they were able to complete part of the work and were supposed to return to Bukavu for their end-of-year holidays before going back to the site. After their return, we encountered an obstacle: the road was closed by rebels, and the vehicles transporting our equipment were blocked at Kahuzi-Biega National Park. After several days of negotiations, the road was reopened, and we were finally able to resume our journey to Kalonge and complete the work. It was a very difficult time, but the Lord was on our side. The local population did a tremendous job transporting the equipment, which was 6 kilometres from the main road. Besides transporting materials, the local population also helped with the earthworks for the water intake installation. This work cost us time and energy due to the instability of the ground and the risks involved in the earthworks. 

Building the Tank

The water tank had been built as planned, but the disruption caused by the war led to several interruptions, as the road was closed at Tchivanga. This resulted in a shortage of equipment for more than two months. As usual, the water intake is regularly moved away from the tank, and we had chosen a levelled plot of land allocated to the local population to install the tank. The tank's role is to hold the large quantity of water in order to help store it for redistribution to the population. The tank built in Karhishishi has a capacity of 10m³ to serve nearly 5,000 households. We believe that this tank is currently insufficient and cannot meet all the needs of this population, which numbers over 7,000 households (Karhishishi (Central) and Bumoga) in the South. The reason for building this first tank is that the financial resources were insufficient, and therefore two tanks are needed on the two sources of Cifunzi in order to meet all the needs of the population. As everywhere, the construction of tanks was seen as a rebirth of hope for the population. Most said they had never seen this modernity and many people were curious to understand what we were doing. 

Installation of Pipe and Taps

After construction, it was time to install the pipes and tap. Before installing them, we had to dig the paths for the pipes. Given the long distance between the tank and the population, digging the longitudinal ditches took record time. They had to be at least one meter deep and extend for seven kilometres. Tree roots blocked the work, but with the determination of warriors, our team overcame all these obstacles.

The unique aspect of installing the water fountains in Karhishishi is that the entire population had never used taps before. This led us to reconsider our approach several times. However, we established a management committee to regularly monitor the daily use of these taps. The committee had been chosen before the work was completed. It was important to take advantage of the local population's close relationship with the teams working on the project. Local leaders, religious authorities, and community leaders all monitored the progress of the work. It was within this framework that they, on their own initiative, organized elections for a committee to oversee and maintain the infrastructure.

Given the number of people expected to use these water facilities, it made sense to install double-tap water points. In Karhishishi, two such points and three single-tap points were installed.

Between the tank and the taps, we had installed maintenance points, leaving for each distribution a valve on which the population can come and stop the flow of water in case of a water leak.

After the water fountains were properly installed, some of which were already in place, especially the single-pump ones, were able to start dispensing water. For the double-pump installation, we'll have to wait for the concrete to dry before removing the formwork and connecting it to the public water supply. 

Conclusion

As I mentioned in the introduction to this report, the population of Kalonge in general, and Cifunzi in particular, is very excited to have, for the very first time, taps with running water 24/7. It should be noted that the village of Cifunzi has repeatedly experienced cases of cholera and typhoid fever due to diseases caused by poor hand hygiene. This Ebola outbreak, which necessitates the presence and use of clean water, will be a welcome relief for the people of Kalonge, who currently lack access to clean water.

It is worth noting that in the past five years, we have completed three of the five projects presented to BHW as priorities. For Cifunzi alone, we will soon be implementing a portion of this same project, given its importance and the fact that Cifunzi has become a place of refuge for many internally displaced persons. Some, who came from Kalehe, Nyamukubi, Bushushu, Bitale, Nyabibwe, and even Katana, were so traumatized that they chose to settle in Kalonge/Cifunzi. This part of the village is overcrowded, according to statistics from the health districts.

ACLUP warmly thanks Bright Hope World for having thought of this population of Kalonge who is in difficulty to find water to drink. We kindly request that the two other (or more) projects of Kalonge be realized.

The population of Mule, Fendula and Cifunzi celebrate their joy because the pain they had has been reduced. They can get water every moment they want and for them this is enough and they send thanks to the donors and ACLUP in particular for the effort.

We are otherwise waiting for the next step of the second part of this Cifunzi water project that was projected to be realized in August 2026

For ACLUP DRC
Paulin MURHIMANYA BASHOMBANA