A Year Later: No more spiders!

"Things had not been easy for me growing up in this community and attending school in the same community that had no access to clean and safe drinking water," said 13-year-old Kadiatu S.

"Every morning, our teachers would send us to go and fetch water in the bush down the swamp. It was very difficult for me in the rainy season because the road will be very slippery and bushy too," said Kadiatu. "I had to remove my uniform and put on other clothes so that my uniform will not [be] soaked on the way to the swamp. There were a lot of spiders on the road to the swamp, which was very scary. And we had toilet facilities in the school, but we were not using them because there was no water in the school to take care of that; instead, we had to use the bush."

But last year, when the well on Kadiatu's school campus was rehabilitated, things changed for her. She is now able to stay at school without worrying about leaving during the day.

"I am very happy now because water is very close to me and it is easy to access. I do not have to come with water from home again because we have it in school. It has impacted so much on my life because I am no longer going in the bush to toilet, but I am comfortably using my school toilet facility at any given time."

Finally, Kadiatu remarked, "I just want to say bye-bye to my spiders on the way to the swamp."

Kadiatu outside the well.