A Year Later: "It's a breeze!"

Before we protected the spring in Makunga Community, fetching water was an arduous task. And the water people tried to scoop up so carefully, and which they waited in lines to collect, still made everyone sick.

"We used to scoop water, and it had dirt and insects inside of it," said eight-year-old Agnes. "We also had to take turns to wait for the water to settle and be clean."

"We used to scoop water, using a bowl to pour [it] into our jerrycans," added 35-year-old Phillip Tabarachi, the chairman of the water user committee. "This usually led to fetching dirty water. Even then, we had to give it time to settle so as to try and scoop clean water."

But now, when we asked Agnes and Phillip about the water situation in their community, they had very different things to say.

"It is easy as it is clean water flowing," Agnes said. "We even drink directly from the discharge pipe. No need to go and sieve it at home or wait for it to be boiled."

"It's a breeze!" said Phillip.

The ease of collecting and drinking water has made everyone's lives in Makunga so much easier.

"I have been able to maintain a clean pair of school uniforms easily as the water is always available," Agnes said. "Since [the spring's] protection, we have also not been sick in our family, which is a good thing."

Phillip said: "I can open my shop in good time, as it is easy to get water in the morning and get to the shop early and catch the early customers. It used to take me a lot of time in the morning: get water for myself, for my livestock, then leave for work."

Thank you for providing reliable and clean water and sowing such positive change in Agnes' and Phillip's lives. With more time and healthier bodies, we are very excited to see what they can accomplish.

Our field officer (left) stands with Phillip (center) and Agnes (right) at the spring.