In Burundi, Olivier Nihimbazwe is walking the walk. Olivier is a 28-year-old former Gulu University student who participated in the TAGDev project. He completed a Master’s degree in Food Security and Community Nutrition in 2021. During their orientation training at Egerton University in 2019, they were challenged to think of something that would benefit the community. This is where he got the idea for a humanitarian project in Burundi.

Reflecting on the challenges in his community, he considered the widespread child diarrhea in Northern Burundi, which affects at least 23% of children under the age of five. This predicament is largely due to the use of contaminated water in households.

Nihimbazwe designed the project during the COVID-19 lockdown because the university was closed. He also began the registration process, which was dubbed “Water for Development.”

Working virtually with colleagues in Burundi, he applied for the first grant under the D-Prize global competition, and they won USD 16,000, allowing them to launch the project’s pilot phase. He recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, which will see the project scaled out across the country.

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