Bringing drinking water to a remote mountain settlement will save children’s lives and keep girls in school. It also will free up women’s time, enabling them to pursue new opportunities and improve their families’ lives.
The Challenge
While water has always been a problem in Onura, the drought (affecting more than 20 million people across east Africa) has created a crisis. Villagers, mostly women and girls, must walk many kilometers every single day to collect every drop. This prevents many girls from going to school and many women from having enough time to earn a decent living. Most of the water they collect—from stagnant ponds, marshes, or ditches—is contaminated with parasites and bacteria. Unsafe water frequently kills children because their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery, and other water-borne disease.
Our Solution
Our Onura Water Project will fund the installation of two hand pumps, two stable wells, and a pipe delivering drinking water from free-flowing mountain springs. Each pump will provide 240 households (1,560 people total) with water from a new well. The wells will be constructed 5 kilometers apart to serve as many villagers as possible. One of the hand pumps will be installed in front of the village school, so children can collect water and go to school in one trip.
Potential Long-Term Impact
More than four out of five children will make it past the age of five. Women and girls will no longer have to spend up to four hours a day gathering water. Women will have more time to grow food and start businesses. Girls will be able to graduate from primary school and eventually give their own families a good start in life. This will ripple to their families and community.
