Here's What Happens When Water Is Scarce
Posted 10 years ago - Apr 29, 2015
From: WallyEverywhere we go in Zambia, we gather quite a crowd. The kids follow us and, sometimes, are chased by us. I am guilty of that one.
As we walk along the dirt paths in their village, we often stop to talk to the families about their different situations and more specifically about their water needs, since that is what Blood Water does best.
Most will say, “we need safe water so our kids will not get sick.” Sadly, that is a statement that repeats itself in every village we visit.
Today, however, when we asked one lady what was the most pressing need for the families in her village I heard something different. She said they have too many hand dug wells that not only yield contaminated water, but there are so many old, uncovered, wells that the kids fall in them and get hurt.
These unsafe holes in the ground not only hurt children internally with the water they produce, but they are also hurting them physically when they fall in and become trapped.
This is one of the horrible by-products of the desperate search for water. Yet it is another reason why helping provide deep water, sealed wells that are maintained and have a pump is so important.
The Blood Water wells provide safe water and eliminate any mother from having to watch helplessly as her child is pulled from a hole in the earth while she stands by praying that her baby is going to be OK. That's not just just me being dramatic.
One of the Blood Water drill workers told me how sad he was when he heard of how a child fell into a hand dug well and died a week before he got to the village to dig their new well. He knows firsthand the importance of the wells he is drilling and to him it is not a job, but a mission.
We are excited to Drill It and Fill it with you next week. One of the things we are going to do next week is provide a drill rig for the families we have met in Zambia. It's going to look something like this - and you could be a part of it.
I think that it's so cool to hear the needs of these people in person, all the while knowing that in one week’s time, together, we will be the answer to their prayers.
By Wally
Host of The Wally Show