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A Kenyan Girl Learns to Prevent Serious Illnesses
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by Leslie Hawthorne Klingler, Communications Manager
Esther is a typical Kenyan sixth grader whose life revolves around home and school. As an older sister, she often takes responsibility for helping her mother care for her younger siblings. This task is particularly difficult when illness is making its rounds through the family—which is often, due to the prevalence of waterborne diseases in the region. It is the most challenging when her mother is sick and the burden of caring for the family falls on her young shoulders.
Last year, Esther's mother fell seriously ill. The family was forced to spend some of its meager budget to take her to the hospital for care. The doctor diagnosed her mother with typhoid and told them that the culprit was contaminated water.
Several months later, the lights went on for Esther. Esther's teacher, Joseph, invited her to become a member of a WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) club. There, Esther learned that she had power to prevent illnesses like typhoid—in other words, to save lives. Fortunately, Esther's mother had recovered, but others in her community had died of the disease.
Every Wednesday, Esther's WASH club meets to study a lesson from Lifewater's WASH in Schools training manual. Joseph, the schoolteacher who started the club after attending a Lifewater training course, said that the lessons are catching on quickly: "In the school, about 30 percent of the students wash their hands," explains Joseph, "but in the WASH promotion club it's already up to 80 percent."
Esther was one of the students who immediately understood the lessons' value. She remembered what the doctor has said about why her mother contracted typhoid and the stress such illness put on her family. "We want to have good health, because if you are careless with your health, you become sick and die."
Anxious to prevent illness in her family, Esther taught her younger brothers and sisters to wash their hands and drink only safe water. Esther pointed to a brother nearby: "He promised to start drinking only clean water that has been boiled."
Esther wants her friends to be healthy too. "I saw my friend coughing without covering her mouth, and I told her she shouldn't do that. I talked with her seriously instead of making it a joke, so she listened. I said, 'Do you want me to be sick?' She said no and stopped doing that. I am a changemaker because I have helped many friends to change their health."
To read more about Lifewater's work in Kenya, visit lifewater.org/kenya-project
You too can be a changemaker by helping schoolchildren like Esther:
- $50 can contribute seeds for a school garden watered by the new water system.
- $250 can support a school WASH club.
- $1,000 can help install a new water system at a school.
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The Circle of Time
by Joe Harbison, Executive Director
Thirty years ago, I was a young development worker in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The province's rural communities were losing children to waterborne diseases at an alarming rate. Dysentery, typhoid, and malaria were among the biggest killers. With great urgency, local pastors and I coordinated to bring them safe water.
That was when I met Chikri, a five year old girl who had lost a number of her playmates to typhoid and other waterborne diseases. In her young life, Chikri had already been forced to migrate with her family several times in search of water during dry seasons.
Pastor Wanchai, the pastor in Chikri's community, had sought out my help to install a new gravity-fed water system. Together, we helped the community install a two-mile-long system benefitting 500 people, with external help only for the cost of the PVC pipe.
I recently visited Chikri and Pastor Wanchai during a trip to Thailand. Three decades after it was installed, the water system still brings life and health to the community. Chikri has survived her childhood and become a teacher. She is now educating her village's children in a one-room school. Pastor Wanchai continues his ministry to scores of other villages, sharing the hope of Jesus Christ and assisting communities as they pursue their own clean water solutions.
Today, Pastor Wanchai is asking Lifewater what we can do for the newest generation of Thai children who lack clean water resources. I am waiting to answer him. Perhaps you can help me to provide a solution.
If you would like to support Lifewater's work in Thailand, donate at lifewater.org/donate and put "Thailand" in the comments section.
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Blessed are the Peacemakers
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Lifewater's work diminishes tension in a water-scarce community in Ethiopia
Throughout human history, control over water resources has been one of the most common causes of conflict between people groups, and even between people of the same community. Lamentably, this was the case in the community of Ganata, Ethiopia. Zeyneba, a young mother in Ganata, explained that water was sometimes so scarce, even children would fight over it, desperate to provide for their families. As recently as September 2010, more than 800 people struggled to meet their basic water needs and keep their livestock alive from the contaminated trickle of water. "It got so serious," she said, "we had to hire an armed guard."
Thankfully, such strife no longer divides Zeyneba's community. With funding from USAID, Lifewater International and its in-country partner capped a nearby spring and installed a 1,300-gallon reservoir, thereby ensuring a reliable source of safe water. "Livestock and people used to share this stream, so the water was very contaminated," Zeneyba said. "Diarrhea was the norm, but now it is very rare. My own children no longer get it at all." The desire for safe water was so strong that Ganata men overcame their fear of evil spirits to finish the system as soon as possible. The chairman of the local WASH committee, which Lifewater helped to establish, reported, "We worked even after dark, when the evil spirits come out." Through their Christian witness as they worked with the people of Ganata on the water system, Lifewater's in-country partner helped them begin to overcome their fear of evil spirits.
When the system was completed, the WASH committee charged a small fee to each of the 230 households to build a fence around the source and to provide a small fund for maintenance. They are now establishing a modest monthly user fee. These efforts are an important part of ensuring sustainability.
Zeyneba and her neighbors also benefitted from Lifewater's sanitation and hygiene training, where they learned effective and culturally appropriate methods of protecting their health, including handwashing with soap, practicing good sanitation, and keeping water safe from collection to consumption.
New hygiene and sanitation behaviors and skills are being reinforced in local schools. Lifewater-trained school directors and teachers have overseen latrine construction on school grounds and started WASH promotion clubs, whose members are promoting good behaviors both among their classmates and in their homes. With encouragement from their children and the community WASH committee, residents are improving their hygiene and constructing their own latrines.
Zeyneba says that she is confident the new water system and health improvements will last for many years, because every household is committed to maintaining them. Peace and health, she says, have taken root in her community. Everyone wants them to grow and flourish.
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Helping Haitians Heal their Land
→ Lifewater's disaster response focuses on sustainable solutions
In February 2011, a team of Lifewater hand pump repair trainers traveled to Cap Haïtien, on Haiti's northern coast, to contribute what Lifewater does best—investing in local people so they can provide sustainable solutions to their basic needs.
Lifewater's team trained Haitian drillers in advanced hand pump repair, a crucial skill in Cap Haïtien, where there are hundreds of broken wells. Cap Haïtien's population doubled when Port-au-Prince earthquake survivors sought refuge there. The city's already strained infrastructure lacked the capacity to accommodate the swelling population, and water and sanitation systems buckled. "I talked with one family that had sixteen refugees in their home," said team leader Tim Cleath. "You can imagine the conditions there."
During the hands-on training, the team helped repair eleven hand pumps serving an estimated 3,500 people. Each broken well was a learning opportunity. One well, the only water source for a large elementary school, was damaged by broken pump parts in the well shaft. The Haitian team learned how to create a fishing tool and pull up the "rat's nest." The team also surveyed dozens of wells installed on previous trips and by people associated with Lifewater. "It was wonderful to see how much our work in Haiti over the years has improved life for thousands of people," Tim said.
Team member David Uttley was glad to see how much the Haitian drillers welcomed the training. "They really appreciated the fact that we valued their expertise and took the time to listen and see where their needs were," he said. David, who grew up in Haiti and has been there multiple times since the earthquake, explained that Lifewater's commitment to empowering nationals is invaluable in this longsuffering nation, where people have been repeatedly devalued and exploited.
Lifewater's commitment to empowering nationals is invaluable in this longsuffering nation, where people have been repeatedly devalued and exploited.
Lifewater will send additional teams to train Haitians in advanced well drilling, sanitation, and hygiene. Hygiene training is particularly timely. "For the most part, the concepts of germs and disease transmission are foreign to Haitians," Uttley explained, "but now everyone wants to know how to prevent cholera."
Lifewater's work in Haiti is part of its developing emergency response strategy, which supports initial relief efforts and engages its expertise for long-term rehabilitation. Visit lifewater.org/disaster-response to learn more.
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The Best Worst School in All of Kenya
→ by Heather Young, Lifewater staff
I met Urbanus during a WASH in Schools training course Lifewater conducted in the Mtito Andei region of Kenya. He is very tall—I'd venture to guess nearly seven feet. One of the nineteen primary school teachers that took part in the training, he has an incredibly warm smile and great joy for life.
At the end of the training, teachers were asked to rank their schools from one to five according to cleanliness and attractiveness. We showed them two pictures, one of a neat and tidy school and another of an untidy, dirty school to help them evaluate their own. The teachers shuffled around, deciding, and then almost all of the teachers ranked their schools with twos, threes, or fours. Urbanus ranked his school with a five, the worst possible score.
Because he knew I was going to visit all of the teachers' schools the following week, Urbanus said "My school is the worst. I am very sorry for when you come to my school. It is very dirty and very dusty. I apologize for it. It is very bad." I imagined it would be very bad, knowing that schools in the area struggle to get enough water for the students to drink during the day, to make lunch, and to clean.
By the time we visited Urbanus's school a week later, we had seen nine others. They all lacked water and good sanitation facilities, and all were dry and dusty due to a drought.
Urbanus's school was a big surprise. It was better than any I had seen! The head teacher proudly showed me a beautiful garden with corn, mango trees, papaya trees, and other crops. Students were clean, energetic, and happy. Several were standing in line to wash their hands using the tippy tap that Urbanus made during Lifewater's training.
I asked Urbanus why he said his school was the worst. He replied, "I wanted to show the other teachers that it was okay to say that their schools were bad, because we need to do better. I didn't want any of them to be scared to say that their school was the worst."
Back home, I often think of Urbanus and his school. He has taught me the value of throwing aside one's pride so that others may benefit. He has shown me what it means to work hard to make a difference, even in the midst of hardship.
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Girl, Toothfairy Help Save Lives
Kindergartner Hailey Banks of Arroyo Grande, California, recently won an award at her elementary school's art show with her "Giving Clean Water Together" collage:
"Together my brother and I want to help people with the money we save. Some children and older people even die because they drink water that is not safe.
"My artwork shows the Tooth Fairy visiting my brother and me while we are sleeping. We save the money in a piggy bank and give it so we can help people get fresh and clean water."
Get kids in your community involved in helping other kids get clean water. Visit lifewater.org/get-involved for ideas. And be sure to send us your stories!
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Go Online and Give. Your Gift Will Multiply!
→ Lifewater donor will match $5,000 in online donations between now and Easter
As a result of a gift match challenge last summer, Lifewater was able to install dozens of new water systems in northern Uganda and train communities how to use and maintain them. Here are comments from three people who benefitted:
"I have been suffering from stomach problems for a long time, because the unprotected spring we were fetching water from was giving me worms. I tried to treat myself and spent a lot of money, which I would have used at home. But since we got this water, I am now utilizing my money on household work. I am healthy, and I can do my farm production to increase my household income." — Grace of Oyengo Olwedo, Uganda
"In our culture, women are the ones who do more work than men. But because of this training, I am going to take up the work of mobilizing men for community work." — Ogwang Jimmy of Oyengo Olwedo, Uganda
Lifewater wants to keep its Ugandan partner mobilized with funds to continue transforming lives.
A generous Lifewater donor will match $5,000 in online donations between now and Easter Sunday.
Go online and contribute! Be sure to put "Easter Match" in the comments section of the
donation page.
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Significant Sacrifice
→ An Easter Journey
"Significant Sacrifice connects me to people in my church and to people all over the world. My journey deepens when I walk with others through this season."
— Elizabeth Aebischer, Significant Sacrifice participant
Approximately one thousand families are reading Lifewater's devotional guide and sacrificing something for the sake of those who thirst during the 40 days before Easter.
More than one hundred individuals are receiving Lifewater's weekly devotions by email. If you would like to begin receiving them, sign up at lifewater.org/email-sign-up
Would you like to participate? It's not too late to start the activity. Visit significantsacrifice.org to learn more.
significantsacrifice.org
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