Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...
When the Living Water Burkina Faso team arrived, 300 families including a local Primary School with 209 students;104 boys and 105 girls were dependent on an unprotected hand dug well located 4 kilometers outside the community, various forms of surface water all located a kilometer outside the community, tube wells located 5 kilometers outside the community and protected hand dug wells located 2 kilometers outside the community to meet all of their 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. Most residents are or Catholic or Muslim faith and there is no church in the community. During the well rehabilitation, the team shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with community families, using access to safe drinking water as an entry-point to sharing the Good News with the unreached. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a Water Committee, Community Health Club and Self-help group who assisted the team with the water project whenever possible and supplied any materials they had available. This Water Committee is also responsible for maintaining the well after the team leaves the area.
During the hygiene education and using the Living Water Traditional Method, the team addressed with 202 children: 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 35 year old community member and teacher, Windimi Nougtara, who stated, “We have four classes in this school with over 200 students. Every day we have the problem of water in this place. You can see that all the school children are truly happy that they can drink water from this well again. With this rehabilitation we are sustained, it's the words of thanks that are missing. We want to thank the project who has well lifted our children and all of us from our difficult situation with water. Thank you very much."