The Rotary Club of Dar es Salaam (District 9214), in partnership with the
Rotary Club of Daniel Island (District 7770, USA), Water Mission, and Bugando
Medical Centre (BMC), has successfully completed a major Safe Water Project for
the newly constructed Oncology Center at Bugando Medical Centre in Mwanza.
This life-saving initiative was funded through a Rotary Foundation Global Grant
(GG2346761) and represents a total investment of USD 90,500.
Bugando Medical Centre is a 1,000-bed tertiary referral hospital serving
approximately 14 million people in northwestern Tanzania. With the opening of
its new Oncology Centre in May 2024, the need for a reliable and safe drinking
water supply became critical, particularly for immunocompromised cancer
patients.
The project involved; installation of a dedicated safe water supply line for
the Oncology Centre, Construction of 50,000-liter holding tanks to ensure
consistent bacterial reduction and resilience during water outages, Installation
of a chlorination system to improve water quality, Establishment of multiple
public access spigots across the hospital campus and Implementation of WASH (Water, Sanitation
and Hygiene) education for staff, patients, and the wider community .
The project directly benefits oncology patients while also providing safe
drinking water access to hundreds of daily hospital users, including staff,
visitors, caregivers, and members of the Lake Zone community.
To ensure
long-term sustainability, the Bugando Medical Centre will own and maintain the
system while Water Mission provides
engineering design, installation oversight, and operator training
The system will be regularly tested for bacteria levels and chlorine quality to
ensure continued compliance and safety.
“Safe water is not a luxury in a hospital — it is a necessity. We are proud
that this project protects vulnerable cancer patients and strengthens the
entire Bugando community. This is Rotary in action.” Said Abdulqadir A. Hameed
President of the Rotary Club of Dar es Salaam
Rotary is a
global network of 1.4 million leaders and problem-solvers who take action
to create lasting change in communities around the world.