A Year Later: "The whole community is happy."

Last year, people in Bross 3 had to walk a long way outside the community to a local stream to collect their water, braving danger from wild animals and the slippery path.

"Before this project was completed in my community, it was very difficult for me when it comes to having access to clean and safe drinking water for myself and the family," explained 42-year-old Osman. "My wife and the children had to go down the stream to fetch water every day, which was another task added to what she already had. The most unfortunate part of it was that the road was very scary with snakes and other dangerous animals like spiders [and] scorpions, and the road itself was very slippery, especially in the raining season.

"Sometimes, my children [would] sustain injuries on the road, and because of that, I had to spend a lot of money replacing broken buckets due to the difficulties my children used to have on the way to [the] water source. Another challenge was that my children walked more than six miles to and from school, and when they come back from school, I had to ask them again to go down the stream, about 2 miles [away, to fetch water, which was painful for them, but there was no way they could avoid it when options and opportunities of having access to clean and safe drinking water [did] not exist. This was badly telling on their academics, especially [for] my first daughter."

But now, the community has its own well right in town, which has made things easier for people of all ages in Bross 3.

" There is no problem for now," Osman said. "I am very happy to have this water facility in my community, and the whole community is happy because we have water at any time we want it, even at night hours, because it is available and affordable at all times.

"This water facility has impacted my life in many ways, but I will name [a] few. It has helped me get rid of worries I had before whenever my children [were] going down [to] the stream to fetch water. It has also helped my wife to focus on doing other things without any worries of having to go down the stream to fetch water or worrying [about] children coming back with broken buckets instead of water. My resources are now saved on replacing broken buckets."

Now, Osman feels confident that his family members are happy and healthy.

"As a father and breadwinner of any home, I believe seeing your children being happy at all times is a great joy and fulfillment, and seeing my children in that mood in the past year calls for celebration," Osman concluded. "And I believe [this is] a result of this water facility in my community. My daughter's school grades have improved over the year, and I am so excited."