In 2012, Fantini set out on a mission to provide clean drinking water for the Masango community in Burundi, Africa. Known as 100 Fontane: Fantini for Africa, the project aimed to build an aqueduct and 100 water outlets over 10 kilometers in Masango that were within walking distance (no longer than 10 minutes) from the houses of the children in charge of daily water procurement.
All Photography Courtesy of Fantini
At the time the project started, procuring water was a daily task above all for around 90 percent of the children in the community. Many would walk for hours on impassable tracks to fetch water, taking up long periods of their day that could otherwise be devoted to education or play.
Connecting with Burundi
With water being the basis of Fantini’s work, it made sense for Fantini CEO Daniela Fantini and her team to connect to Burundi by bringing the country drinkable, unpolluted water. One of the poorest nations in the world, Burundi is a country where the difficulty in procuring water is one of the main sources of distress and hindrances to the development of the country. Lack of good quality water can lead to a high infant mortality rate, illness among the population, lack of agricultural crops and more.
Daniela and her team focused on Masango in particular, an area in Burundi that is made up of inhabited settlements that are spread out over a vast hilly territory and not grouped together. To bring drinking water closer to homes and to make the routes for procuring water as short as possible, it was necessary for the Fantini team to build kilometers of piping from the sources, which are very distant from the inhabited area, to the terminal outlets. This included complex plumbing work on rugged, often impervious terrain.
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Overcoming Harsh Conditions
Despite logistical obstacles, the lack of infrastructures and weather conditions, in just two years Fantini managed to build:
- 12 water springs that catch water from the rocks
- A 27-kilometer aqueduct
- 100 water outlets accomplished in September 2014
- Further 30 water outlets (thanks to customers’ support and the sales proceedings of the IBalocchi collection)
Good water changes lives: Around 25,000 people in Masango now have easy access to clean drinking water. It also enables children in the area to be able to attend school instead of making long treks to get water, which is a first big step to creating a brighter future for the community. Learn more about the project and experience by watching the film below.
