A Year Later: "I am so glad and thankful."

Shichebe Spring was inaccessible for community members during rainy seasons before it was protected last year. This made collecting water burdensome and time-consuming for people, especially children.

"Previously, to get water was so difficult because my mother used to send me to fetch water very early in the morning before going to school and [again] in the evening. [This] was affecting me negatively since other community members [would] not allow me to fetch water first, and I could end up going to school late [and] miss[ing] classes, thus leading me to poor performance," said 13-year-old David L.

Since the spring was protected last year, things have been different for David. He has gained some valuable time with water accessible throughout the year.

"The water point has impacted me positively because I am no longer going to fetch water in the morning like before. My mother [is] now the one fetching water since it is very easy," said David. "More so, we are now drinking safe, clean water, which has impacted my family positively because we are no longer being affected by water-related ailments due to contaminated water."

"[The] protection of this spring has helped me achieve [a] very important thing in my life, which is [an] improvement in [my] academic performance. This is because, in this society, no one can change his family unless he or she is educated," said David.

"I am so glad and thankful to [you] for remembering young children [by] protecting this spring in this community because we were really affected negatively. Many [children] were ending up dropping out of school because of waterborne diseases," David concluded.