What can clean water provide?
Ask anyone, “What can clean water provide?” It is obvious – safe drinking water and water that is safe to cook with. But ask the pastor from the village of Tambetin, in Burkina Faso, and you might get a surprising answer!
Before February 2014, the people could walk a long way to an open well – and by the standards of some open wells, it was quite good. But it is an open well. There is no way of keeping the water clean. Anything can get into open wells. And, in addition, it takes a long time to get there and back.
But then in February 2014, Myra’s Wells drilled a well here. It is well number 40 in our list of wells. The wells that Myra’s Wells provides are completely sealed. The water is guaranteed to be clean as it comes from underground water tables and it is tested by a laboratory in Ouagadougou. So this is what the people now have. And, equally important, it is near to where the water is needed.
So what can clean water provide in addition?
There are more obvious answers. For one thing, without the risk of water borne diseases, health improves. It helps with personal hygiene – which leads to other heath improvements.
Then there is the livestock. They are equally prone to problems of disease. When we provide a well, we build a wall round the pump and a runaway which is a drinking trough for the livestock.
But ask the pastor at Tambetin “What can clean water provide?”
And he will tell you “A motorbike!” On Saturday 30th September 2017, Christine had a visitor at 7am. In Burkina Faso, this is well into the day! The pastor was at the door and he showed Christine the motorbike he had arrived on. He had been able to buy it at the end of August. And the reason? With having reliable and abundant supplies of water near to the village, he was no longer having to go by pedal bike to the old open well with his 20 litre water bottle.
This takes too much time. And you can’t carry much water on a bike. There was not enough to water the crops properly. But now, the water is where it is needed. Not only is there enough for drinking and cooking and washing. There is enough for the village to be able to water their crops – and enough time to be able to do it! There is a surplus of crops – and that can be sold. And then you can buy a motorbike.
And some of the young people in the village have also made good use of the water. They have been using it to grow crops, selling them and now they can pay their school fees and have their education.
Myra’s wells continues to keep to the commitment that all donations will be used directly for well building projects with nothing being taken out for any other expense. To help more people in Burkina Faso please read this page..