One of Them is a Woman!

Do you need a little boost to start your day? Today's report should do it. 

Imagine it's hot. Scorching. It's also the dry season. Your entire village of 400 people is dependent on a water source an hour's walk away. 

Then two young people from your village show up offering to fix your well. One of them is a woman! Whoever heard of such a thing? 

A long discussion ensues where it is agreed the village will pay this repair team $30 plus parts to fix the well. But first, they have prove they can fix it. 

And then they fix the well!

One of the men in the village shared his feelings about all this craziness. 

“My name is Run Wol Thiik. I am a father of four children. Our well was broken down in our village, and we suffered with our animals a lot. Now we are happy for the newly trained Joseph Kuot and Achol Madut, our community members. They will come when we contact them in the future. That is now our primary hope.”

Run Wol's village is Bakdeer in Gogrial East County, Warrap State (GPS N. 8°12’37.524 / E. 28°31’59.928). The reason you don't see roads on this map is that there aren't any. 

The well committee for Bakdeer collects well fees for repair and maintenance. In Warrap State, where raising cattle and goats is the business, clean water is the difference between success and failure.

That's why we just ordered a new truck from Dubai and more spare parts from Uganda. The only thing that can hold this Women’s Well Repair Initiative up is money and supplies. 

Please consider a gift now so Joseph and Achol can fulfill their dreams of meeting the most basic need in their communities, clean water.  Click here to learn more.

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Meet The Dynamic Team Responsible For This Repair

Rebecca Achol Madut Muorwel

Age: 23 years

Village: Mayom, Gogrial East County

Education level: Senior 3 (11th Grade)

Married with 2 children

“I accepted to come to this training because I want to help women to have constant access to clean water since I know the struggles they experience every day personally, particularly when a water pump is broken.”

Joseph Kuot Thiik

Age:22 years

Village: Mading, Gogrial East County

Education Level: First Year University

“This training is matching my education of economics. Now I want to acquire business skills and also well repairs skills to help my community have access to clean water without disruption that always experience when water well breaks down.”

Good News in DRC!

I think we all need as much good news as we can get lately. We have some! Here is what Josué Kwizera, our project manager in Kibumba, recorded in our latest report. He wanted us (and we want you) to hear directly from this school administrator.

 Thank you for your generosity!  

Because of you, our students are staying in the classroom! In our school, we have 200 students. It is costly to ensure the children's health and sanitation as they must travel to Mugunga village to fetch water and use the toilet. It takes two hours to get the water. Those two hours are crucial in the classroom as our kids are always managing planting, harvesting, and school. 

I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to us educators to have clean, safe water right here where we need it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. -Rwamampfizi Evariste

Imagine this entire scenario from the child's perspective. You must wake up early to seek water, seek it again while at school, and again in the evening when you return home—so many hours wasted—more than 40,000,000,000 every year in Africa alone. A simple thing like water is robbing children, especially girls, of life and education. 

Many of us have experienced school falling from our grasp, now that COVID has impacted every student in America. The pandemic has only added to the challenges of education in DRC and South Sudan. But with clean water, they have hope and more opportunity.

I wanted you to hear one of the many impactful stories we receive every week. Just this year, donors have made it possible to build 180,000 liters of rain catchment systems and to launch our new Women's Well Repair Initiative. 

I would love for you to be a part of the magic happening as we work together to provide clean water and hope in Africa.

Sincerely,  

Steve Roese, Founder & President

St. Luke's Nursery and Primary School Well

“Since peace has come, many returnees have arrived back home, and wells are becoming overcrowded. Waiting in long lines takes away from study and teaching time.” - Joseph Lugala

Joseph Lugala (pictured middle) is an administrator at St. Luke Nursery and Primary school. He submitted a request for a borehole to be drilled at the school because it was becoming increasingly difficult for students and staff to access water during the day at Lomuku II community well. 

Rose Yangi (pictured right) is 49 with 5 children, some of whom attend St. Luke’s. She’s been a resident of Lomuku II for over two decades. Before the 2016 conflicts, the population was over 1000 households (8 per household), all surviving on 2  boreholes. She said it was challenging to access water. Fights often broke out at the well as women were desperate to get water to their families. 

When the conflict arose in 2016, the population decreased as many fled to refugee camps. While the community members are relieved the war has ended and are glad to see their neighbors return, they knew issues would arise again at the wells. A third well in the area will relieve great suffering and will relieve conflict points. They felt the best solution would be to drill a borehole on the school grounds as children must be well hydrated to focus on studies. They plan for the well to be closed to the surrounding community during school hours but opened to the public when not in session. 

The drilling began early in 2020, and they successfully hit water. However, due to a small rebel uprising in surrounding areas, the crew could not travel to Uganda to retrieve the necessary parts for completion. Roads were unsafe and temporarily shut down. At the end of March, the threat of COVID-19 slowed down progress as well. After receiving training and masks, the team was able to complete the well, and on June 16, 2020, the well was opened to the community. 

Rose, Joseph, and other community members and children extended sincere gratitude to the Huntt family for the funding of their well. While times are challenging, indeed, having access to the basics of clean water makes all the difference. Health, education, and quality of life, in general, will vastly improve for the children and staff at St. Luke’s and for the surrounding community. 

Here, No One Dies Alone

Let me tell you a conversation that I will never forget!

Our driver had just yanked the Land Cruiser to the side of the Yei to Juba road, a perplexed look on his face. "What do you mean, that would be a great way to die? I don't understand."

Traveling with Megan and Wendy, two friends from Midland, TX, we were remembering a mutual friend who had recently passed away in their sleep. "That would be the way I want to go out of this world," was what the driver heard me say.

But to this African driver, passing without family and friends, making the journey alone, was unfathomable.

In Africa, no one dies or lives alone.

As we contemplate our current moments with loved ones, may we learn from our friends in Africa and seek to foster that kind of life experience where being alone is the last option. 

By the way, our sisters and brothers in Africa have now added COVID-19 to their long list of diseases they fear daily. Having clean water to wash their hands has become even more crucial. Here, if you don't leave your house to make something happen, no one eats or drinks.

Your support today will mean they have a fighting chance against this insidious disease, too.

Thank you for making a gift now in these difficult times.

Steve

PS - Communities continue to gain access to clean water in South Sudan and DRC. Check out these recent photos from reports received this week!

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This week, these young ones in South Sudan watched their well get a good tune-up!

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In DRC, our rain catchment work continues. Village water source, before & after!

A Simple Formula W/ Powerful Results

We can learn a great deal from the people we serve in South Sudan.

Over the years, they have shown what to do in a crisis. They celebrate small things, enjoy each other day-to-day, choose sacrifice as a first response, and ALWAYS think community over the individual.

They are an excellent example for us all. 

So as you contemplate how you will manage the next few weeks or months, will you please allow our friends in South Sudan to affect your plans?

Celebrate the small things (read a book, write a note of encouragement); many will suffer financially (who can you serve, deliver groceries to), and as a community, a nation, a family, let's do all we can for the greater good.

By the way, my wife and I are in self-quarantine, having just arrived back from London, where we helped our OASIS BOX partners, Bond -E-Shams raise $30,000 for more water. We celebrated the founder's 28th birthday. The founder Hamza is another example of why education is so important. Everybody at Bond-E-Sham is in their 20's. No one receives a paycheck!

Hamza's idea for the solar box came from his own battle with water born disease as a child. As Lou Holtz said, "Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity." Check out Hamza's story.

What innovative idea is in the future for Mary or Mary?

Mary and Mary are two young teenage ladies slipping and sliding, pulling and climbing their way to a future.

They want to go to school and change the future of their nation.

Mary Yabbu is 15 and spends her weekends frying up cassava to sell in town. It's how her mother can pay her school fees.

Mary Sunday lives with her grandmother, where she spends her weekends working in the fields.

Both girls' days start with a 2-mile round trip walk for water when it's available.

The future of South Sudan, the future of Africa, the future of our world is in the ideas forming in young minds. When we give out of our abundance, they get the basics.

It's a simple formula with powerful results.

Please continue to give to our work (we never stop) and find someone in your community who needs some help or give to your local meals on wheels today.

Stephen R Roese, President