A Year Later: Quicker Access to Water!

"Before construction, insects used to float on [the] water, and there was grass all over the place, making us scared of the place," said ten-year-old Emily A. when describing the spring's condition before it was protected last year.

But since the spring in Machemo was protected, access has been much easier for Emily and other community members.

"We could easily fall, mostly when it rain[ed] and we went to fetch water, but the installation of the staircase has really made the access easy," said Emily. "[The] installation of the fence has really helped because children cannot get access to the spring eye and dirty the water, unlike before where they could play inside the water, making it dirty."

Time management was also a challenge before the spring was protected, but now the process of collecting water is much faster and less tedious.

"There could be [a] long queue of people, especially during drought season, and filling a 20-liter jerrican using a scooping container was time-wasting. Now water flows from a pipe and fills the jerrycan within seconds," said Emily.

Hopefully, less burden collecting water will give Emily more time and energy to pursue other things in the future.

Emily at the protected spring.