Rehabilitation Project
Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...
When the team arrived, 300 families were dependent on 2 unprotected wells, various forms of surface water, tube wells and 2 protected wells to meet all of their water needs. Because of this and the community’s practice of open defecation, residents were suffering from diarrhea and severe dehydration among other preventable water related illnesses. There are Community Health Workers in the community who reside in the community and work to better community health outcomes. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a Water Committee that is comprised of five to seven members trained in various aspects including management of the provided water point as well as general management principles to equip them with skills on sustainable water resources. Part of the responsibility of these water committees—where agreed upon and accepted by the community—is to collect a nominal fee from everyone that uses that particular water source. The money is collected by a designated treasurer within the committee and is used to help clean the well sites, pay and watchman to guard the well, and purchase locks and spare parts. Most residents are of Protestant, Catholic or Muslim faith and the local Association Krista Lawyir Church will continue to share the Gospel with the unreached in Doumouole Community. The local church will be able to use access to a restored water source as an entry-point to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with community families.
Hygiene Promotion
During the hygiene education the team trained 180 adults (72 men 108 women and 54 children) using the Living Water Traditional Method. The hygiene coordinator taught the water user committee by defining roles, responsibilities and qualifications. The hygiene coordinator instructed the 234 attendees in the following lessons: Germs, Hand Washing-Proper Techniques and Water Saving Methods, Good-Bad Hygiene Behaviors, Proper Care of Pump and Keeping the Water Clean. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.
The Living Water Hygiene Coordinator stated, "The people are very happy to receive this training at Doumouole. The leader of the local church, Krista Lawyir, is very happy with this training and said it was a great lesson for them to better guard their pump and to have good health by drinking clean water. They even asked that if possible, we could come back and teach them more things to their advantage."
Community Member Interview
The team met with 30-year-old community member, Tieter Some. Mr. Some is a local farmer and member of the church. He said, "Hello my friends. When the pump broke down it was painful in my heart and also in the hearts of all the people of the village. We had to drink dirty water; water from shallow hand dug wells and the creek area where animals drink and it gave us much sickness. Today I am so happy and the entire village is happy because we have found clean water again! My heart is good and also the hearts of the people in the village are good. Thanks to God the problem of water has diminished. We have clean water at our place to drink and it has diminished many illnesses that we normally find in our village. Our hearts are full of joy and we pray that God grows this association of churches. It's the grace of Jesus Christ who was crucified on the cross that we have received this. And, everyone here recognizes the blessing of the local church and their prayers. We have seen their worship and know its' importance. We will not leave or let fall the worship of God. All together we will maintain our worship hand in hand. Today I and all the people will sleep very well."
