In February 2022 the mayor of Houla, a town in the eastern sector of UNIFIL’s area of operations, asked UNIFIL for support. UNIFIL’s Spanish Battalion, which leads the eastern sector, answered the mayor’s call.

8 months later, a stone wall, rising nearly 5 meters and spanning 20 meters, stands proud in the town of Houla. This wall is not meant to keep anyone or thing out, but rather to keep something precious in. Houla’s newly constructed stone structure is a retaining wall designed to hold a sizeable quantity of water behind it. The wall essentially acts as a dam, storing rainwatercollected during the rainy season.

The construction was funded by UNIFIL’s Spanish Battalion (SPANBATT) and inaugurated in the presence of Mr. ShakibKteish, Mayor of Houla, and Major Francisco Gutierrez Candelario of the Spanish Battalion.

For the community of Houla this project is a big deal. The lack of water during the dry season has not been kind to the crops grown by the community, but this is now changing. By next spring and summer there will be sufficient water in the reservoir to irrigate their nearby fields and safeguard the crops from drought.

SPANBATT is proud to have been able to help improve the community’s cultivation and agricultural needs through the reinforcement of a sustainable and environmentally friendly rainwater collection system.