What do you give to people who have almost nothing?
On 25th December 2017, no doubt we were all busy opening Christmas presents. There were probably boxes under a Christmas tree or in a pillow case. Maybe they were in a stocking. No doubt there were many exclamations of happiness. “Just what I always wanted!” mixed with groans at unwanted aftershave. We have so much already. Sometimes we find it difficult to know where to put the extra things. But what do you give to people who have almost nothing? Where do you start? Before we give the answer, we need to tell you about a village in Burkina Faso.
What do you do on Christmas day at Siguivousse?
Christmas day started like any other day at Siguivousse in Burkina Faso. There was the usual trek to fetch dirty water. They used to have an open well in the village. But, some time ago, a man fell down it and died so it was no longer usable. The people have to go to another one some distance away. This is still an open well and there isn’t enough water there anyway. And the water was dirty – it so often is with open wells.
Myra’s Wells’ Christmas present
But during the morning of Christmas day, a lorry arrived carrying a large drilling machine. The lorry stopped and the drilling machine was set up. Myra’s Wells had already sent a surveyor to the village. His report was not very encouraging. There was no guarantee that the drill would locate water. But we prayed about this village because we wanted to try to help them by providing clean water.
So drilling started at about midday. 5 hours later there was a wonderful Christmas present for the people of Siguivousse. The drill struck water at 62 metres deep. The flow rate is 1400 litres/hour which is twice the minimum acceptable rate. In a place where the survey indicated a poor chance of success, this is was a wonderful result.
What have we given to people who have almost nothing?
Clean water will make them as happy as anything can do. We still have to wait for the water to be tested before the pump can be fitted. But, as long as the water passes the test, in about two weeks, there will be clean water in the village.
And then the well will look very like this one that is a Noatenga.
We pray that the people of the village will also find “living water” as well as clean water.
We hope to continue to provide more wells in the future.
This well is number 104 on our list of wells. Click here to see the full list. We hope to have photographs shortly. And to help us in this work, click here to see how you can make a contribution. We guarantee that every penny given will be used to provide more clean water. Any other expenses are paid personally by the trustees.