Rehabilitation Project
Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...
When the Living Water Burkina Faso team arrived, 57 families were dependent on an unprotected hand dug well 5 kilometers away from the community, protected wells located 7 kilometers away from the community and various forms of surface water located in the community to sustain their growing water needs. Because of this and the community’s practice of open defecation, families were suffering from diarrhea and severe dehydration among other preventable water related illnesses. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a water committee who assisted the team with the water project whenever possible and supplied any materials they had available. This water committee is also responsible for helping maintain the well and were provided a Living Water Burkina Faso contact number in case their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft. Most residents farm small plots to provide food for their families. There is a local Krista Lawyir church who will continue to share the Gospel in the community and cultivate new believers after the team leaves the area. There are several NGO’s working in the area: PABSO and an Italian and German NGO who are supporting rice production in low water areas.
There were 159 community members present for the hygiene education: 63 men, 65 women and 31 children. Using the Living Water Traditional Method, the team addressed: Germs, Hand Washing-Proper Techniques and Water Saving Methods, Good-Bad Hygiene Behaviors ,Proper Care of Pump and Keeping the Water clean.
The Living Water Burkina Faso team had an opportunity to meet with forty-nine year old community member, farmer and President of the community village development, Joel Dabire, who stated, "I want to thank you deeply for this project in our village, your second project in this place to help us with potable water. Every human being needs water. The trees, the seeds, the wild animals and the domestic ones all need water. Water is the source of everything living. I want to thank all those who have contributed to do this
rehabilitation, the partners in the USA, and those who work on the wells. May God give them a long life to continue to help others in need. May God give them force, Holy Spirit, and increase their knowledge that He will protect them always. Everyone in the village is full of joy!"
The church and Pastor Dabire will steward the well along with the locally designated water well committee of which some of them are members, in terms of hygiene, sanitation, and maintenance. Our team will continue to provide training and advice. An Italian NGO called C.I.S.V. is working with the mayor system to set up water user committees in each village ensuring community deposits and contracting repairs through mayor approved repair technicians. The Living Water Burkina Faso team captured a testimony from one local Christian and the witness they have become to their people: "Before I was a Christian, when I had a health problem with my family, I had to get up very early in the morning and go and consult a witchdoctor. And it cost me a lot of money with all the animals I had to buy to give him to do the rituals and sacrifices. Now that I have left that old path, when I have a problem of health in my family, I pray to God. I have learned that when I do need to go to the clinic I spend much less money than before when I went to the witchdoctor."
