{"id":233735,"date":"2024-08-21T09:38:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T13:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=233735"},"modified":"2024-08-21T09:38:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T13:38:05","slug":"zainabs-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2024\/08\/21\/zainabs-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Zainab\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For ten-year-old Zainab (Zy-nab), work starts as the sun comes up \u2014 and oftentimes, before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her village of Rogbom Kakalay in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone, no one has a protected water source for miles. In sub-Saharan Africa, households expect women and girls<\/a> to keep their families stocked with water. So, Zainab\u2019s first trip to the swamp starts as soon as she finishes sweeping the yard of stray leaves and trash. She needs the first trip for water to wash her family\u2019s dishes from the night before.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Zainab on the way to the swamp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Zainab\u2019s route to the swamp is bushy and remote. She fears the trip, especially when the sun is high in the sky because that\u2019s when snakes are most active. And without adult supervision, who knows what other dangers might meet her while she\u2019s walking all alone? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even though the task frightens and exhausts her, fetching water is Zainab\u2019s burden to bear for her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will make seven or eight trips [to the swamp] per day,\u201d Zainab said. \u201cSometimes, when I return home, my peers will have already gone to school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The swamp in Zainab’s community of Rogbom Kakalay in Sierra Leone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Once Zainab sets her family\u2019s dishes to dry, she goes back to the swamp: this time, to wash up before school. She hates using the swamp water to bathe, as it gives her itchy rashes that plague her throughout the day. While she doesn\u2019t know what kind of rash she has, one thing is certain: it won\u2019t go away as long as she uses the stagnant swamp water for personal hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019ll return to the water source one more time to fetch more water for her mother before she sets out for school. But her daily water-fetching duties are far from over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the dry season<\/a>, Zainab also needs to collect water on her way to school, since that\u2019s when her school\u2019s water source dries up completely. The school administration asks the students to carry water with them to cover the school\u2019s water needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Zainab carries her school book along with the water container to school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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While Zainab is in school, it\u2019s difficult to concentrate due to the rashes on her skin and the lack of water. Her school is dirty, dusty, and smelly without water to clean the classrooms and latrines. Last term, she failed her exams, which jeopardized her dream<\/a> of becoming a teacher. But with so much of her time outside of school eaten up by water-fetching duties, trudging back and forth to the faraway swamp, she has little time or energy to study or complete homework outside of school hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zainab (right, front) taking notes at school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On her way home from school, Zainab fetches even more water to launder her school uniform for the next day. Sometimes, she asks her school friends to help her carry this trip\u2019s worth of water because she\u2019s so tired from her long day at school. They\u2019re both boys, so they don\u2019t have extra water-fetching duties to manage at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zainab walks home with two boys, one of whom is carrying her water container on his head.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After she launders her uniform and hangs it to dry for the following day, it\u2019s time to start preparing for dinner. She fetches another container of water for cooking, then helps her mother prepare the food, usually by pounding rice to remove the husks and sifting the husks out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once everyone has eaten, it should be time to relax and study. Instead, Zainab goes to the swamp for another pail of water to help her family water the plants in the family garden. She might need to return there multiple times throughout the evening to refill her bucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zainab waters the plants in her family’s garden with milky-white swamp water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Finally, with the crops watered, Zainab fetches one more container of water for her father\u2019s bath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing Zainab with new, safe water sources will shrink her walking time from a half-hour to a minute or two, since the new borehole well in her community is to be constructed right at her doorstep. This will free up so much more of her time for studying and relaxing at home. And because we\u2019ll also build another water source in the neighboring community of Kathoma, she won\u2019t meet long lines at the water source \u2014 she\u2019ll be able to collect water and go home within just a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only will Zainab have more time to study, but she\u2019ll also experience better health with clean water, leaving the painful rashes behind and allowing her to focus on what really matters: being a hopeful, playful child with opportunities ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a new water source at her school, Zainab will be better able to focus on her studies and her dreams for the future. No students will have to leave the school campus for water during the dry season. Students and teachers will be equipped with the water to clean their classrooms and latrines, providing a healthier environment in which everyone \u2014 including Zainab \u2014 can learn, dream, and thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the video below to hear Zainab tell her story in her own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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