World Water Day is a UN initiative. The UN has designated 22nd March every year to be World Water Day. The aim is to raise awareness of the need of clean water for millions of people in the world who still do not have it. We all acknowledge that this is essential.
The UN has created a web site to publicise the day. http://www.worldwaterday.org/. This is what it tells us ….
What is World Water Day?
The UN “Sustainable Development Goal 6” is crystal clear: water for all by 2030. By definition, this means leaving no one behind. But today, billions of people are still living without safe water – their households, schools, workplaces, farms and factories struggling to survive and thrive.
Marginalized groups – women, children, refugees, indigenous peoples, disabled people and many others – are often overlooked, and sometimes face discrimination, as they try to access and manage the safe water they need.
What is Myra’s Wells doing about this?
We are very keen to involve the future generations in tackling the problem. So we have contacted some local schools in Dorset to encourage their participation. At least three have agreed to help with this. Myra’s Wells trustees will be visiting to talk to the children about the problem. Then families will have a chance to join in sponsoring a well.
We will give each child a small “toy” bucket. On 22nd March, they will return the buckets with silver coins. We will then use whatever is donated towards the cost of a well at a school in Burkina Faso.
Which school in Burkina Faso will benefit?
We have heard about a school which has been started in Gounghin near to the town of Koudougou. Gounghin is a new district in the town with between 1000 and 1500 people living there. Although there is a government school, not everyone can go there. There are fees to pay and there are no facilities for children with particular needs. The new school is a “private” Christian school, but there is no restriction on which children can attend. Help will be given to those who cannot afford the fees (which are usually less than the fees at government schools anyway). And the plan is to make help available for children with particular needs.
The town itself is a tourist centre for both Burkinabe and overseas visitors. There is a large lake there, populated with caimans – which are not a threat to humans. In fact, because of an old legend, the caimans are virtually worshipped. Many people use the lake for their drinking water. If we can provide a proper drilled well, the water will be available to the whole community, not just the school children.
Myra’s Wells experience
Myra’s Wells is a Christian charity which has been drilling wells in Burkina Faso since 2006. We feel very blessed by God to have been able to have drilled 135 wells at the time of writing this article (December 2018). You can see the full list using this link. Over the last 12 months, we have drilled 30 wells, 20 of them since mid October 2018. If you would like to support this special project for World Water Day 2019, you can use this link to make a contribution. Every penny donated through this page will be used towards this well (or another well if we receive more than is needed for this one well!). Nothing is deducted from donations for any other costs – these are all met, personally, by the Myra’s Wells trustees.
We want to make World Water Day 2019 a day to remember in Gounghin.
