In Kigazi the walk for water is back-breaking – about two kilometres down impossibly steep slopes……..and then two kilometres straight back up: now carrying between 20 and 40 kilos of water. It is the hardest physical task that any of us at J1010 have ever attempted. But for us, whilst it was hard, it was safe. For the girls and women that make this trip up to three times a day it is highly dangerous as they run the very real risk of attack, assault and rape.
The alternative to this dangerous and hard labour is to get water from pools and puddles – water that is contaminated by animal faeces and diseased. This is why diarrhoea kills way more African children than malaria and HIV put together.
We believe that a clean, safe water source that is close to home is a basic human right. And so J1010 has built rainwater harvesting tanks that now collect and store more than 250,000 litres of clean water in the village itself. We’re also trying to do new things like fog harvesting, water purification through solar power and purification/oxygenisation using volcanic rock and plant sources – anything that can improve quality of life, health and the safety of women and children.
Over 2,000 years ago Jesus asked a Samaritan woman to give him clean water. We believe that today Jesus is asking us to do the same – so that He can give it to others who need it.
