Well Building
Only 45% of people in our area have sufficient water (clean
or dirty) for their needs, which is amongst the lowest
in the world. People need water for cooking, drinking,
watering their chickens and animals, and washing. Many
people now have to move to cities simply due to lack of
water. The Joliba Trust specialises in building cement
wells, which have no breakdown problems, with a large
diameter, so that 6-8 women can draw water at once to
avoid long queuing, and clean water. Thank you for the
very generous help to fund 16 wells so far. These are
all built in areas of relatively good farming and pastureland.
Often the only constraint to more people living in an
area with much better land is simply lack of water. Many
more people move to a place where there is water.
We are extremely grateful
for the compressor, which is allowing us to build wells
in rocky areas, and to deepen some existing wells.
All the well management and building work is carried out
by the village. Joliba funds only the cost of the building
materials, the Technician, and water hygiene training.
Drawing water from the well at Bapene
A well means things like:-
* A family can eat more
than one meal a day. In some villages women and their
children are too busy collecting water all day to have
time to prepare food until the evening
* The children can go to school because they don’t
have to help their mother
* People can build mud-brick houses, instead of straw
ones, which are not weatherproof and are liable to burn
down
* People’s health can be radically improved and
saved from many disabling and life-shortening diseases
such as bilharzia, dysentery, skin and eye diseases and
leprosy, which is prevalent in villages where people have
insufficient water to wash
* People can keep livestock. Animals are an invaluable
resource and provide vital manure for the poor soils.
It is very difficult to grow sufficient crops without
manure
* Women are not worn out and suffering from joint disorders
from carrying heavy loads long distances by the time they
are 30
* Women can have time for useful and income-raising activities
Watering trough attached to the
well
