Bringing water closer to home

“My life is now better. I have even stopped worrying about water now that we have a well,” Violet says with a big smile. “Even my grandmother and my great-grandmother will no longer suffer.”

Ten-year-old Violet has a reason to celebrate. Thanks to a new well drilled in her village by World Vision, she's now seen the last of her family's water worries. She and her family live in a small village in Zambia which is roughly 110 km from the nearest provincial town, and finding reliable water sources that are close-by has always been an issue.

“It feels nice to have water nearby because I can go there anytime to fetch the water. Now I only carry a small container to fetch water. It is near so I draw the water in bits,” Violet says.

Violet is not only benefitting from access to a new water source. With a new water source that's easily accessible, she can also use it to apply the hygiene practices she's learned about. Good hygiene is having an equally positive impact on the lives of other people in her village.

“I have already learned a lot of things about hygiene and sanitation which I had no knowledge about." she says.

When she thinks about the benefits she is seeing as a result of practicing better hygiene and sanitation, Violet says their past practices - and in particular, the lack of a bathroom - made them more vulnerable to disease.

“In the past we used to bathe in the open, behind the house. We never used to keep our surroundings as clean as we are doing now. I am learning a lot about hygiene and sanitation at school and from my grandmother.”

Even though it may seem a small difference, the addition of a new well to Violet's village may be the key to a bright future.

“Now that we have well nearby I will not be missing school, and I will be reporting for classes on time. Before, I used to sometimes miss and report late for school. I used to get tired after walking a long distance to fetch water,” Violets says.

“My desire is to work as a nurse or a doctor. I want to be curing people and providing food for my grandmother."

Violet’s Grandmother Mary, says the past is now over because World Vision has taken away her greatest challenge - the burden of water.

“Violet will no longer have to carry heavy containers to fetch water. She had to do the work alone whenever I fell sick. No one could do it for us unless someone came to assist. Her great-grandmother is too old to fetch water and do other strenuous work,” Mary explains.

“I thank World Vision for the water and for teaching me about hygiene and sanitation. I hope that diarrhoea and other diseases will never come to our home again. We are now drinking clean water from the well,” Mary says.

Dorothy Monde, World Vision's Water and Sanitation Manager for Zambia’s southern region says 12 successful wells have so far been drilled in the region - including the one in Violet’s village. “Our desire is that all children must have access to good sanitation facilities as well as safe and clean water for them to enjoy good health, spend more time in school and enjoy life,” she says.

“Before we drilled the wells, we trained households in hygiene and sanitation to ensure that by the time they were going to access clean water they would be putting the knowledge into practice,” Dorothy explains. “This helps to reduce diseases because water alone is not adequate. Therefore a holistic approach is taken to eradicate diseases such as diarrhoea by tackling hygiene and sanitation.”

Thanks to World Vision's work in the area, children like Violet are now learning about hygiene and sanitation at a household level as well as access to WASH clubs at school, where they can gain a fuller understanding of the importance of water, good hygiene and sanitation.