Clean water brings joy into the lives of people in Burkina Faso. We wish it could be the case for everyone there and maybe that will happen. But it will take a long time because the need is so great. This is the story of one girl in one village where Myra’s Wells has drilled a well recently.
Jeanne Bazemo
Allow us to introduce Jeanne Bazemo. She is 15 years old and lives in the village of Toukon in Burkina Faso. There is a small secondary school there with about 100 pupils. Jeanne’s day starts at 5am. She has to be up then to fetch water for her family from an open well. She does not complain about it – it is just what she has had to do since she was very young.
This is the school where she goes after fetching water. Of course, during the day, the pupils here will need their water as well. Until now, this is where they went for water during the school day.
Another open well! Nothing to stop someone falling down it. Nothing to stop it being polluted by animals and anything else that might fall down it. No wonder disease is rife!
Then, one day in early October 2017, a lorry arrived with a drilling rig mounted on the back. Myra’s Wells arranged for a proper borehole to be drilled. When the borehole reached a depth of 79 metres, the team found an excellent supply of clean water. They took the usual sample to Ouagadougou for testing in the laboratory and they pronounced it clean and pure. So we proceeded with the pump installation and the construction of the surrounding wall. And the new well is now ready for use:
This is how we know that clean water brings joy!
We can confidently say that clean water brings joy in Toukon! Just look at the faces of the pupils of the school as they try it out. Jeanne still has to fetch water. But it is now only a short walk and she can be sure that it is clean water. And she, along with the rest of her friends at the school, can drink water safely without the risk of falling down the well!
Stan’s well
The well is dedicated to the memory of our good friend Stan Orman who passed away in September 2017. He was the first person to make a donation to the charity when it was started back in 2006. He was 88 years old, had lived at 88 Pinehurst Road for a while and this is well number 88 on the full list of our wells. We have sent a plaque in the container that left a couple of weeks ago. This will be fixed to the surrounding wall when it arrives.
And we know that clean water brings joy in many other places in Burkina Faso too.
At the time of writing this article (27th November 2017), Myra’s Wells has drilled 99 wells. The full list can been seen using this link. 100% of all money that is given is used in wells projects and we will maintain this record going forwards. All other expenses are covered by the trustees personally. If you would like to help us bring more joy in Burkina Faso, please read our “How To Donate” page.
