success story

September 2009

“Next winter I will not miss any of my lectures,” declared Zeina Mahasneh, 22, when she learned about the installation of a rainwater drainage system in Tubas. Zeina is an IT student at Al-Quds Open University in Tubas, a small city located in the northeastern West Bank. In the past, the winter floods made the Tubas roads impossible to travel, particularly the main road to the university.

A new rainwater drainage system was completed, with a $297,000 contribution from USAID, in September 2009 – well in advance of the West Bank’s rainy season. The USAID partner ANERA installed 1300 linear meters of 80 cm diameter concrete pipes to drain rainwater from a large catchment area in the town of Tubas. The project helped create 900 person-days of work opportunities for workers in the area.

According to Mr. Iqab Daraghmeh, the city’s mayor, “Tubas was generally affected by water floods during winter time. But the university area, on the main road, suffered the most during rainy seasons.” He explained that “this is due to the nature of Tubas. The main street receives rainwater drained from quite a large area. Thanks to USAID’s funding, the coming winter will not disturb the lives of Tubas residents and university students.”

“The situation here was very difficult,” said Jihad Rabaia, Deputy President of Al-Quds Open University. “I am looking forward to this coming winter, when our students and staff will not have to worry about reaching the university’s main gate.”

Rabaia explained that “students used to come up with creative ideas for crossing the street and staying dry and clean, like placing large stones along the way to walk on, or jumping their way to the university gate. This was not a convenient educational atmosphere for any of us.”

Zeina remembers many “funny” stories about her and fellow students. “Many of the female students used to come dressed up neatly and nicely, but as they walked to the university gate or crossed the street, cars would accidentally splash muddy water on them.  Some girls would then dry their clothes in the bathroom; others would return home and not come back that day.”

The university students and staff were not the only people affected by the floods. Abu Ali, a grocery shop owner on the main road in Tubas, used to suffer a lot during the rainy seasons. He explained that “although water is a blessing, winter here for me was a curse! Customers were not able to cross the street to buy from my shop. I used to lose quite a lot of customers in the winter.”

“I cannot wait to see rainfall outside my shop without flooding the street or creating huge puddles of water,” said Abu Ali cheerfully.