Home to around 3,500 Lebanese residents and 300 refugees, the village of Kfar Yachit in North Lebanon’s Zgharta District regularly experiences heavy seasonal rainfall and floods during the winter months. The resulting damage has been exacerbated by Lebanon’s ongoing socio-economic crisis which has diminished the municipality’s ability to provide essential services, including protecting residents and farmers from the rainfall, which has fueled growing tensions within the community. In response, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) provided the municipality with a new rainwater collection system consisting of around 760 m of underground pipes with 19 manholes on the side of the roads in the village, in addition to an electrical pressure machine to facilitate the cleaning and maintenance of the underground pipes. To complement this activity, on November 21, 2022, CSP delivered a training to three local municipal council members on the machine’s proper operation and maintenance.

“The electric pressure cleaner was much needed to help us unclog and clean the pipes. Today’s training taught us how to properly use and maintain it in order to ensure the durability and effectiveness of the rainwater collection system,” stated Rene El Hundi, member of the Kfar Yachit municipal council.