The first activities date back to the early 80s. After three years of drought, Cape Verdian immigrants agreed during a conference organized by the Government to address the drought issue, that each participant would develop activities to raise funds for projects for his/her native island to minimize or avoid the shortage of drinking water. Mr. Spinola took it a step further and began using other actions to raise money for a car, on which a water tank with a capacity of 1500 liters could be installed. This was soon realized, within a year a tank truck was making water deliveries in the Island of Fogo.
The “Water for Life” (Água para Viver) Action Committee was established in 1988. At the same time in Fogo, the counterpart organization Associação Agua para Viver was founded. The foundation was partly fund by “Huize Frankeland” from Schiedam, a part of the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Through this activities, sufficient money was raised to finance the construction of the first cistern in 1983. A.Cisterne is an in-ground build tank, that captures rainwater through a flow field. Before the water enters the cistern, it is cleaned via a carbon process, after which it can be used until the next rainy season.
By 2018 a total of elven cisternes were built and five others were renovated. In the 1980s, four cisternes were built in the region between San Jorge and Campanas, in an area most likely to rain. The most beautiful cistern stands in Ribeira Filipe, where the water comes from a tap. The largest cistern was built in 1992 in Lacaca. There is little rain here, so there is an extra-large flow field and a container with a capacity of 450,000 liters. Two cisternes, built with German support, are equipped with a flow field. This is because the pipeline system did not work. In 2006, a cistern in Velho Manuel was completed. Finally, in 2018 there were two cisternes supplying the prison in San Filipe damaged by cracks created after the eruption of the Pico volcano. The cisterns walls have been recemented. The various cisterns are run and maintained by villagers. The maintenance costs are paid from the sales proceeds of the drinking water: 20 escudos (5 cents) for a bucket with a capacity of twenty liters. If you will support us, please click on the button below.