A Year Later: Increased Sales and High Production!

Before we protected Makhwabuye's spring last year, accomplishing daily tasks was difficult for 54-year-old Agnes Saula.

"Getting water was strenuous since there was always a queue at the water collection area," Agnes explained.

The spring was shallow, which meant community members needed to scoop up water one small cupful at a time. And, as Agnes said, this extra care meant that people often had to wait for long stretches before others were finished fetching water.

"So getting to the water point and getting back on time to prepare lunch for my children who were studying in a nearby school was so difficult, since most of the time they could come back home for lunch and find it's not ready, hence making my children get punishment from the teachers for having reported [back] late."

But now, a year later, Agnes's life is hardly recognizable.

"Getting water has been so easy for me," Agnes said.

"I no longer queue at the water point, but rather use a few minutes to collect water and get back home to prepare meals for my schoolgoing children, thus creating a strong bond between me and my children. [This makes] them not view me as a lazy mother, thus they get to be in school [on] time."

Not only has the convenience of having reliable water strengthened Agnes's connection with her children, but it has also boosted her business with increased sales and a high production rate.

Agnes concluded: "[I] have managed to produce vegetables in high amounts and of good quality because of the availability of water to irrigate my products, hence attracting more customers who make a lot of orders, making me to make more profit, unlike before when I could strain to water my products because of lack of enough water."

Agnes at the protected spring.