Dear Friends
Welcome to the Myra’s Wells Newsletter April 2019.
This drilling season (Mid-October to May) has seen 33 new wells completed so far. This is more than we have been able to drill in any previous year and we give God the glory for this. Thank you to so many who have made donations to help to bring this about – some of these have been anonymous. And many have been giving regularly for a long time. Thank you to you all. And thank you, especially, for your prayers.
At the time of writing, the number of wells on the wells list is 148. We are praying about 2 other places where we plan to try in the near future. We keep the wells list up to date on the web site page. At every place, the well is a testimony to the love of God for the people in the villages.
There is a lot that we want to tell you about. Here is a summary of what you will find below. Click on these headings to jump to the section in the newsletter.
- Short report from the visit to Burkina Faso in January
- Ouadardou – a desperately needy village (but not now!)
- An amazing young man – 8 years old
- Two stories from Benda Toega
- Drilling wells part 3 – the drilling process
- Summary of wells in February and March
- Pictures from wells in the autumn
- Urgent prayer request
- How to give without it costing you a penny!
Short report from the visit to Burkina Faso in January
Four of our trustees visited Burkina Faso in January. Eddie, Karen and John were there for about 2½ weeks. Lois was there for one week with her eldest son Alfie who is 9. Travel was a bit restricted by the current security situation (see below), but they were able to visit about 12 wells, witness drilling at 2 places and see several other places where wells had already been drilled. This newsletter would be far too long if we included all the details. But please read a fuller account of the visit on this link.
One of the places visited was a village called Ouadardou. Here is more information about this village.
Ouadardou – a desperately needy village (but not now!)
Eddie, John and Karen spent time in the south west of Burkina Faso. This was arranged by our friend Jeremy Nash who works with Mission Africa. Because of the security problems, they were advised to make sure that the authorities knew they were there when they arrived. They saw two of the new wells while they were there. But they also visited a village called Ouadardou. It takes a bit of pronouncing! But this was a sad sad place. There was one pump there. But it was locked. Only the school teachers and children were allowed to use it most of the time. So, the people were getting their water from a muddy pond. After the rainy season, they were able to use a small river – but it had dried up leaving just this pond.
They decided that this village had to have a new well and, as soon as they arrived home, we asked Christine to make arrangements. About three weeks after, the people in Ouadardou had clean water. The new well is very deep – 115 metres. That is the very limit of how deep we can go. But we have been able to find water. Not pictures yet, but we should have some in due course.
An amazing young man – 8 years old
Eddie has visited some schools to talk about Myra’s Wells because of World Water Day (which was 22nd March). Adam is just 8 years old. He heard about children in Burkina Faso having to drink dirty water. He wanted to help them – people he has never met in a country he has never been to! So, he talked to his parents about it and he decided to do a long sponsored walk – 16 miles. We think that having such a caring thoughtful attitude at the age of 8 is amazing. His headmaster has christened him “Awesome Adam”. The walk is happening on 30th March. If you want to encourage him with sponsorship, you can use this link – Adam’s Fundraising page. A fuller story is also available on this link – Adam’s story. We are hoping to post updates on his progress through the day on Instagram – @myras_wells.
Two stories from Benda Toega
One of the villages that the trustees visited in January is Benda Toega. It is also known as Nabzingm. This happens a lot – we find that villages have different names according to who you ask. But there are two interesting things here:
Firstly, the provision of water has made it possible for this man to set up a brick-making business. There is plenty of need for bricks as more people move to the village on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. More details on this link.
Secondly, also at Benda Toega, the trustees met the “Chef de la Pompe”. This is a man who has been given the responsibility of looking after the pump and maintaining it. Except at Benda Toega, the Chef de la Pompe is a lady. She is very competent and very keen. We might learn the lesson here and ask more ladies to take on this responsibility. After all, it is the ladies and children who usually fetch the water. Again, more detail on this link.
As always, the provision of the well will help the local pastor in his work of the gospel.
Drilling wells part 3 – the drilling process
Following the stories of how we choose sites for drilling and the subsequent survey, we want to include a story about the drilling itself. This is the “exciting” part. The first two steps are necessary, but the we are always eager to get to the stage of drilling. We don’t want to make this newsletter too long! So, please click this link to see the story
Summary of wells in February and March
February was an exciting month. There were 8 wells drilled. They included 4 that were the direct result of what the trustees saw in January. The others have been on the waiting list for a few months and conditions were right for them to be drilled at this point. As February is usually a quiet month, we were very pleased to have completed these. Each has its own story, but a summary of these is on this link.
March has also seen one new well. This, again, was a place that the trustees found out about in January. The village name is Wousskossogo. The numbers at this village have swelled from about 3000 to about 5000. Many people are leaving the north because of terrorist activity and some have arrived in this village. As a result, the one existing pump was in great demand with people having to queue patiently for up to 6 hours. The new well will help them enormously.
Pictures from wells in the autumn
It always takes a while for us to obtain photographs of new wells. Often, we have to wait until the Well Blessing takes place, which can be several months because of distance and travel arrangements. But we have pictures from Koumboura and Banamba which Eddie and John were able to take when they visited. They show wells drilled last October. Click here to see the story and pictures of these two wells.
Urgent prayer request
Security in Burkina Faso is becoming a very real problem. Fundamentalist terrorists have been a problem along the borders with Mali and Niger for, maybe, three years or so. But the problem is spreading and now there is risk of terrorist attacks and kidnapping in a large part of the country. Please read this story and pray for the problem to be stabilised. Particularly pray for the safety of our church contacts who give their time and energy so willingly to help the needy people with water and try to show them God’s love by their actions.
How to give without it costing you a penny!
Most things that sound “too good to be true” turn out to be just that. But Give As You live really is as good as it sounds. Over the last two years or so, it has contributed over £250 to Myra’s Wells without it costing anyone a penny. Despite the somewhat cartoon look of this recent email, it is a very good service!
For anyone who uses online shopping, all you need to do is register with Give As You Live. Then, there are thousands of online retailers (including all the big names) who have signed up to give a small percentage of the sale to your chosen charity. Some (Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, M & S) even offer the same percentage for “in-store” purchases. It costs you nothing!
Best of all, if you use some of the online Energy and Insurance switching sites through Give As You Live, there will be a donation of up to £18 to Myra’s Wells!
Please ask for details of how to sign up.
Finally
Thank you for all your support. We continue to provide water to people in one of the poorest countries of the world irrespective of ethnic or religious background. And we continue to use all funds that we receive 100% for drilling wells. Trustees cover all other costs, including travel.
Please keep praying for the provision of water and the “water of life”. We trust you will know God’s blessing.