Bringing Clean Water to Gbawukuchi Village… Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
At PSH, we have learnt through our work that bringing about true change isn’t easy, and there are times when the sheer scale of the challenge can be very disheartening. However, when we see what the results of just a little effort can be…then we realize the hard work is worth the trouble.
Take the village of Gbawukuchi for instance. It is located close to the Capital of Nigeria, Abuja. When PSH first got there, the main sources of water for this community of under a 1000 people were local rivers. The nearest is about a 20 minute walk away for the villagers. This water is unsafe for any kind of use; yet it was used for all sorts of activities, including cooking and bathing, without purification.
In developed communities, clean water is taken for granted making it really difficult for some of us to fully grasp the enormous negative impact that lack of clean water can have on communities. Here are some facts: According to UNICEF, close to 1 billion people lack access to safe water and 2.5 billion lack access to clean sanitation facilities. Millions of children suffer from avoidable diseases; they are infected by parasites, which further consume nutrients in their bodies, leading to malnutrition. This in turn affects development; affects academic performance; affects their futures. Over 5,000 children die each day because of a lack of clean water. For more info, see here.
Gbawukuchi was a community that was suffering from some of the negative effects we have highlighted above. PSH decided to start here by addressing the “basic” need of clean water by installing a hand-pump borehole (cost – $4900). With the commission of this hand-pump in August 2009, the villagers in Gbawukuchi now have access to clean water.
We plan to return here in the future to install latrines for hygienic human waste disposal, helping to address the sanitation needs of the community. We are also now looking at investing in local entrepreneurship to help bring about sustainable economic development.
Ensuring that communities have clean water and good sanitation services is key to providing a solid foundation on which to build a strong economy.
As always, we are grateful for your support as we continue on our mission. We will keep bring you updates on our projects right here on our blog, so please come back soon.
To view more information about PSH Projects, including photos, click HERE.
The PSH Team
P.S. – We at PSH would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We have much planned in 2011, so check back with us in the New Year.
Tags: Africa, Communities, Updates
