Improving water and sanitation in Jiftlik
Oxfam is helping improve water and sanitation facilities for the 6,000 residents of Jiftlik in the West Bank.
Jiftlik has 6,000 residents spread out in 800 households. The village reflects most of the problems rural communities have to deal with in the West Bank: lack of water, electricity and basic services; tight restrictions imposed by the Israeli Civil Administration; harassment from settlers; and the inability to build any permanent infrastructure.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
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Turning the tap on in the West Bank
Clean water is at a premium in the West Bank, where people live under the strain of the continuing occupation.
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Water is rare and expensive in Jiftlik and Oxfam is working to address the endemic shortage. With the financial help of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (DG-ECHO), Oxfam plans to build a water reservoir of 300 cubic meters connected to a four inch-pipe to increase the quantity of water and the pressure reaching the village's 800 households.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
Some families in Jiftlik get water through the water network twice a week. For those lucky enough to live close to the distribution point a drip of water gets to their taps. Since there is no water pump in Jiftlik, the pressure is extremely low. When there is water, the women work for hours to fill up the tanks.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
Unfortunately, for those living on higher grounds the lack of pressure means that it is impossible to get water from the network supplied by the Israeli water carrier, Mekorot. Families then resort to buying water from tankers or from nearby villages.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
According to Oxfam’s water assessment in Jiftlik, residents consume 33-41 litres per day. In comparison, North Americans consume 350 litres each per day, and Europeans consumes 200 litres.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
Most houses in Jiftlik have outdoor latrines. All look shaky and are usually covered with a plastic sheet. Since it is forbidden to build permanent structures in Jiftlik, villagers attempt to disguise the latrines, making sure they look as 'temporary' as possible.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
A basin filled with water. Some clothes are soaking in the greyish liquid. Each drop of water is used with extreme consideration and recycled as many times as possible.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
For now, young Ahmed is more preoccupied with playing with the animals on his parent’s farm rather than taking part in a serious water conversation with his mom and the Oxfam assessment team.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
But soon enough, Ahmed will attend school and will also be very concerned with the water situation in his village. Here, Oxfam’s Sameera Al Jundi facilitates a hygiene and water promotion workshop with the youth of Jiftlik. Aged between 8 to 12, the children are highly aware of the difficult water situation in their village and in the rest of the Palestinian Territory.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
Various bottles are reused to store drinking water. All of them are covered in jute or other fabrics to make sure the drinking water is cooler than room temperature. During the summer months, temperature in the Jordan Valley regularly hits 40 degrees Celsius and above.
Photo: Sarah-Eve Hammond
