Borehole puts a stop to the cycle of Ill health and poverty

This is an article I wrote for World Water day that got posted on reuters: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/lwf/12698661542.htm

Charity pulls on her dress and quickly picks up the remaining jerry cans from the kitchen. She hears her mother calling and turns to see her family close by gathered around the borehole. The yellow jerry cans glisten in the morning sunlight; her sisters giggle, splashing each other with the clear water that gushes so freely from the pipe. Her mother, pumping effortlessly, greets neighbours as they get in line with their cans for the morning fill. Charity smiles - life is as it should be.

Water is vital for survival. It commands us - we are at mercy to its power. Water - for this reason - is a basic human right, yet for many communities around the world this right is not being met. In northern Uganda, with a reported 40% of people not having access to a safe water supply (Unicef.org/infobycountry/Uganda-statistics.html) , communities often pay a very high price to have access to any water at all.

Most families in Charity's village have only recently moved home from the inhumane and congested camps they were forced into because of the 20-year long civil war that rampaged northern Uganda. Although happy to be home, the joy of resettlement is not without its challenges. 'Coming home' often means returning to a piece of land marked simply by a mango tree: homes have to be rebuilt from scratch, land cleared and reopened, and schools reconstructed. Access to clean water - the most vital resource of all - is ironically often the hardest feat for communities to achieve.

Without the tools, skills and money to buy supplies, communities are unable to drill into the ground to access clean water. Providing this infrastructure is just one of the ways the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) supports communities in Uganda. In 2009 alone, the organisation drilled 62 boreholes, providing clean water to thousands of people.

Before the LWF drilled the borehole in Charity's village, the 63 recently returned households used to draw their water from a dirty stream deep in the bush. This water - polluted and shared by cattle - led to a constant cycle of ill health within the community. 'My children and neighbours constantly had diarrhoea, skin rashes and eye infections', tells Christopher, Charity's father. 'Now we have the borehole these complaints have stopped. My children have put on weight and have more energy and my neighbours have the strength to work harder to rebuild what we've lost.'

This borehole has dramatically altered the quantity of water now accessible to this village. When collecting from the dirty stream, all families were limited to one jerry can per day to ensure the source did not dry up. With this one jerry can, whole families - with an average of six children per household in Uganda - would have to wash themselves, cook meals, and use it for drinking water. The result: each family only had enough water to cook one meal a day. People went hungry. The borehole on the other hand allows each family to draw practically inexhaustible amounts of water daily, ensuring all necessities are fulfilled.

Plentiful supplies of water allow for washing hands after using the latrine; it enables people to wash themselves everyday decreasing bacteria in their homes; it allows for utensils to be washed, decreasing cross-contamination. The ease with which water is collected saves women time every day, freeing them to concentrate on income generating activities, such as harvesting crops, to pay for their children's education, for medical costs, for food, and for basic necessities.
LWF has taken every step possible to ensure the sustainability of the borehole. A Water User Committee has been established, responsible for ensuring the borehole remains in good condition, villagers pay a small fee to cover the cost of any repairs needed, and a pump mechanic has been trained. The community feels empowered: they can now ensure that clean water, and therefore health, remains a priority in their lives.

This borehole has brought hope to the people of Charity's village, drastically changing their quality of life. Escaping the confines of the camp, this community has already rebuilt many homes, reopened land for agriculture and cattle grazing, and now - with the clean water source - they are living healthier, happier lives.