clean water

while we were in sudan, we traveled to 3 different villages...they each got progressively worse in terms of need. the first village (jach) was well-stocked. they have water, food, cooking utensils, mosquito nets, even beer, which, yes, we did enjoy although it was warm beer. they dont have ice or refrigerators. but hey, you take what you can get, right?

the second village- i cant remember the name- just recently got wells. technically, they are referred to as bore holes, not wells, but you get the idea. the people there were very excited to show us their "running" water. and the third village, waliel, has no clean water. they either have to walk many miles away to bring back clean water or drink from man-made wells (see below.)

i wanted to devote one post entirely to the subject of clean water for several reasons. this is a major issue for these people. clean water not only keeps people alive, but it also keeps them healthy. dirty water leads to disease, sickness, and a much lower quality (and quantity) of life. many of these people have HIV/AIDS and dirty water contributes to the transmission of the virus within the community.

basically, clean water is the primary need. it was unbelievable to see that some people dont have it. this really affected us. can you imagine living without water? the people of waliel are suffering, and thats why dave has decided that through mocha club (yes, here it is again...) he is going to start raising money to build wells for them. there are lots of obstacles as you can imagine, but anything is possible with enough money and support. (if you want more info, feel free to email me!)

this is a picture of a man-made well. can you believe that? no wonder it causes sickness...

heres one of the wells. in their culture, the women do all of the work. the men fight. so, most hours of the day, the women and young girls take turns pumping water. they use those plastic containers to catch it. a lot of the women come from miles away to fill up their buckets.

i decided to jump in and take a turn- all of the kids thought it was funny that i wanted to help.

this woman was doing bucket duty, switching them out as they filled up.
barrett was tasting the water.