Rehabilitation Project
Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...
Community Details
Living Water Burkina Faso has expanded from the Bondigui commune to the south in the Dolo commune and is working in the Sud-Ouest district of Burkina Faso. Like the mayor of Bondigui, the mayor of Dolo is greatly pleased with the work being done in this district. Many broken and idle wells exist in this area and the mayor of Dolo is working with community leaders to mobilize communities in his district to work along side the Living Water Burkina Faso team to accomplish clean water sources with durable materials and put processes in place to ensure the longevity of these pumps. This is a diverse group of people, made up of five different people groups and languages. The diversity presents communication challenges, but there is also a great opportunity to share the gospel in this unreached area!
Having an opportunity to enter Dolo commune with both water and the Word, the Living Water Burkina Faso team impacted the physical and eternal well-being of 150 families residing in the commune and 165 students (100 boys and 65 girls) attending the local primary school. Although safe water was secured by developing the community’s existing well to 52-meters deep and capping the well with an India Mark II hand pump, it was not without difficulty. The construction of the improved water point needed to take place with support from the community, which proved difficult for the team to mobilize because the well was restored on school property and students and teachers were occupied with lessons during the day. The community was eventually mobilized and together the Living Water Burkina Faso team and community repaired the well platform and drainage system so that the hygiene and sanitation component could be completed. To support the process, the Living Water Burkina Faso team helped the community form a six-person Water Committee that assisted with the rehabilitation of the improved water point and provided any materials they had available. Community buy-in is essential to securing not only a safe, but also
sustainable water source that will be accessible for many years to come.
Before Living Water Burkina Faso’s intervention, with financial provisions from The Water Project, the commune was desperate for a water source. Not only was safe water far from reach, the reality of having enough dirty water just to support their daily water needs was limited. The community depended on five unprotected hand-dug wells, an unprotected spring, five tube wells and two protected hand-dug wells to help support their existing and growing water needs. Ready to end their long-term suffering, community leaders contacted Living Water while the team was working in a neighboring community, and Living Water responded!
To allow the community to fully experience the benefits of safe drinking water, the team shared paramount, life-saving hygiene and sanitation lessons with 170 people. The team focused the lessons on keeping their improved water point safe and placed significant value on the practice of hand washing! Not only will this improved, restored water point benefit the commune of Dolo, but it will also support work being done by the Burkina Faso government through PNGT and PLAN projects that are geared towards cultivating gardening, providing grain grinders and supporting the construction of water wells to support agricultural and community development in the area.
Hygiene Promotion
During the hygiene education, the Living Water team addressed the following life-saving hygiene and sanitation lessons: germs, hand washing-proper techniques and water saving methods, good-bad hygiene behaviors, proper care of the pump and keeping the water clean. All of the lessons were taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community-driven solutions.
Community Member Interview
"I am very, very happy," shares 33-year-old community member and farmer, Sami. "I don't know how to thank the Krista Lawyir Church Association, in all things we are very excited about all the activities that they have brought to our village. In the name of all the people of the village of Dolo, may Krista Lawyir receive many blessings with much success because of the clean water we have received. I am very moved and at a loss of words strong enough to communicate our feelings. The parents of the school children would like to extend their thanks. I think that this will be like a new school year for all of the students and all the teachers, with this rehabilitation. It will be a pleasure for everyone during the academic year ahead. We thank you!"
