"Filthy water cannot be washed." -West African Proverb

Pure, drinkable water has always bubbled from the hill near the village of Humjibre. This clean water source has sustained generation after generation of villagers through severe dry seasons and periods of drought. The town elders wisely decided to establish a perimeter around the coveted water inside which the discarding of trash, farming, use of pesticides and even the wearing of shoes are forbidden. 

These same practices continue to this day.

 As the community grows, so does the need for more efficient ways of retrieving and transporting water from wells to homes within the community.

During early morning and evening hours, you will see parents and children transporting water in large basins perched on top of their heads from the wells to their homes. All the water that is needed to carry out daily activities (such as cooking, washing, cleaning, showering...etc) is transported in this manner. In addition, most wells have not yet been motorized and require hours of hand pumping to fill these basins.     

GHEI has undertaken a project of raising funds to install motorized pumps and polytanks to supply Humjibre residents with fresh water. This past week GHEI staff and community members helped install a motorized pump to transport the water from a borehole into a polytank which will then be easily accessed by a row of facets that the villagers can use to easily fill their containers with instead of hours of hand pumping.

As the Humjibre community grows so does GHEI's efforts to help support and develop the community.

Photos by Mandy McConaha

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