New Drainage System Improves Lives and Health of Thousands

(This article by Ben Barber, a writer for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was first published September 20, during a visit to Iraq. The article is in the public domain with no restrictions on republication. For more information on U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq, please visit the USAID website -- http://www.usaid.gov/iraq)

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Baghdad Thanks U.S. for Neighborhood Clean-up
New Drainage System Improves the Lives and Health of Thousands

By Ben Barber

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Sept. 20, 2003) -- Sahar Khidair, 24, leaned out from her ground floor rented apartment in Baghdad and recalled what life was like before USAID cleaned up her neighborhood.

"Sewage and garbage piled high right over there," she said, holding her smallest child with one arm and pointing with her other arm to a spot just across the street.

"The smell was bad and the garbage and had many diseases, and my oldest boy was sick a lot," she said, pointing to her three-year old son. However a few weeks ago, Iraqi workers hired as part of a $14 million USAID program in conjunction with the Coalition Provisional Authority, brought trucks and workmen to remove the waste.

Next, the project hired Iraqi workers to build cement drainage ditches to carry away waste water from the neighborhood streets. The sewage is being diverted into an underground pipe leading into the nearby Tigris River. Eventually it will be linked to a wastewater treatment plant. A dozen of the 15,000 people, who live in the Saida area in Karada District of the Iraqi capital, stood in front of a small shop and told American visitors how the drainage system has improved their lives.

"God will take care of you for us," said Mrs. Khidair, to an American visitor. "Praise to God for this good."

"Before, the area was very bad and we could not get a car through the street. Garbage was piled so high we could not push it away. Many people got infections and were throwing up."

USAID spent $13,000 on the project, and local people added $1,500 in labor and supervision.

Mrs. Khidair Shaleh said the people in the neighborhood will keep the cement drainage ditches clean of garbage "every day." She made requests for more American-funded projects such as a soccer fields, more drainage ditches in nearby streets and a health center.

"The street was flooded and there were many flies and rats," said Mrs. Khidair, whose husband is a border policeman. "Life is better now than it was before," she said.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)