In Project Muso’s 2005 survey of households in Yirimadjo, community members identified access to clean water as the greatest and most pressing difficulty that they face. With approximately one safe drinking water source for every thousand people, residents spend many hours of their day and a large portion of their income obtaining clean water for their families. The lack of access to clean water hinders the economic development of Yirimadjo and severely endangers the health of its residents.

The Community Action Committee identified this as their primary priority and took action. They evaluated several potential solutions and developed a plan with the National Ministry of Water to extend the municipal running water system into Yirimadjo. The proposed system creates a water pipeline and public faucets that will serve as the backbone of a running water system for all of Yirimadjo in the future.

By mobilizing the community and demanding action from their elected representatives, the CAC was able to secure government support for the first three steps of their plan, for which the Malian Department of Socio-Urban Development and the municipal government committed US$60,000. Water pipelines are currently being laid in the community and the Community Action Committee is monitoring the progress of construction.