Fighting Erosion -- Living on a Sand Hill

Maleuka is another community in Kinshasa. In 2008, LDS Services d'Entraide (Humanitarian Services) partnered with Humana People to People (HPP) in Maleuka. HPP works on improving a community over a five year period. They train community leaders and establish programs within a ten point program. We provided money for two of the programs, latrines and adult literacy program.

We toured Maleuka with HPP representatives in April 2009. One of the problems the community faces is erosion. In this picture you can see one of the community streets, at one time paved, is eroded and covered with refuse from the last rain storm. HPP has assisted with sand bags and training in how to prevent erosion.

A short walk brought us to a much more serious erosion problem. Over time a stream of water had destroyed a road. The boys in this picture are standing at the previous level of the road.

When a landowner complained about people using his yard as an alternative road, the community was essentially split in half and access between the two sides was non-existent. Initially, HPP and the Spanish Government gave the community sand bags, but after the first effort washed away, a supervisor was brought in to provide the expertise to handle a serious problem.

Lesson learned: serious problems often take skills and require training.

A view from the top shows the depth of the problem. Along the edge, it is possible to see a home that is within a few inches of being the next home lost in the chasm.

The community participates in solving the problem. On both sides of the divide, people fill sandbags with sand from volunteer's yards.

At the bottom, community members place the sand bags. This is difficult work because the bags are very large (about double the size of those used in the United States), it is a hot day and there is no breeze down in the ravine.

Bombyck goes down for a view from the bottom. Notice the bamboo reinforcements. This is the strategy designed to keep the area from washing away again.

From the bottom, the size of the problem is more obvious. The man in the white t-shirt is a community supervisor, also a member of the LDS Church from the community.

It is so good to see a community working together to solve a problem. The resources provided by HPP and the Spanish Government made the difference.