They are often responsible for families' water supply - a difficult to impossible chore in these conditions - so bringing in water by tankers and repairing hand pumps makes their lives a little easier.
"Whether that's cleaning out wells, whether that's repairing hand pumps or piped water supplies," he said, "the main thing now is to save people.
Newly made goods, which frequently show imperfections, are carefully inspected, and defects are usually repaired by hand operations.
Even when Latrell Sprewell returns with his surgically repaired right hand -- most likely on Nov. 16, a Saturday, against Philadelphia -- the Knicks will probably struggle.
The IRC has also built and repaired wells, hand pumps and pipelines in the region and trained community volunteers in hygiene.
With help from the European Union's humanitarian arm, ECHO, UNICEF is also working with partners to increase the water production of the Bangui water treatment plant, restore the municipal water distribution system in Bouar and repair hand pumps, boreholes and wells in the interior of the country, wherever access permits.
"It took seven hours in the surgery room to repair his hand and his arm, but this morning it is really fine – they needed 24 hours to make sure it recovered completely and it looks like this morning they are all happy".
The need for clean water is crucial and UNICEF hopes to repair three hundred hand pumps in Darfur as well as boring holes for new wells.
But if a Zamboni stops for more than a few seconds, its sheer size and the heat generated by its engine may melt a deep hole in the ice that can only be repaired by intensive hand labor.
Working with its partners, UNICEF has repaired hundreds of hand pumps, supplied millions of bars of soap and water purification tablets, and helped bring in water by tanker for Darfur's displaced people.
