In South Sudan, schools have shuttered their doors for a brief respite amidst the scorching heat that would otherwise consume their precious time. But this isn't the typical Spring Break getaway to Florida's beaches or Colorado's snowy slopes. No, it's a different kind of break – a Heat Break.
This story of Water is Basic is way bigger than clean water. It’s economic opportunity, generational transformation, women's empowerment, and hope for a nation.
That’s why I’m inviting you to keep the good going today. Your thoughtfulness will:
Provide access to clean water for another 200,000 people in 2024.
Encourage consistent management of our work by extremely committed staff.
Ensure another group of women-led pump mechanics is trained and deployed.
I just returned from a visit with the Water is Basic team in South Sudan. We have been seeking clean water for South Sudan for years, but what is happening now is next level, and I want you to know why.
During our trip, we met Michael Wol, who shared the story of his wife, Bakhita Ayen Diing. Bakhita walks for 30 minutes to and from the well, where she collects the clean water that keeps her family alive.
10X per day!
Imagine spending 10 hours of your day fetching water before getting to anything else.
Bakhita’s reality inspired us to explore how much time can be saved for women when clean water is easily accessible. Studies prove that mothers will use any freed-up time to invest in their children's lives, and there's a direct correlation between time with kids and educational outcomes; it's a ripple effect.
South Sudan needs a well-educated young generation to lead the country into the future. The generosity of the Water is Basic community has made it possible for us to provide women with more free time by bringing clean water to more communities. Thousands of women have been given back thousands of hours of their lives, and the future is looking brighter.
Did you know women waste 200 million hours daily in Africa looking for water? That's why we need your help. Will you join our year-end campaign, Ripple Effect, to help women like Bakhita stop wasting hours searching for water and start investing in their children's futures?
Bakhita has spent her entire life walking for water, which has been dangerous and exhausting. Her children simply want a meal before school and a bright future. But Bahkita has to wake up early, 3:00 AM, to get her first jerry can of water and doesn't finish her last until the sun has set. She still has many tasks to complete as a mother, including cooking, cleaning, planting, and comforting her children. It's a seven-day schedule that should never exist.
Your generosity this year-end will help us reach our goal of $300,000, ensuring the first 300 wells repaired in 2024 are fully funded.
Please consider making a generous donation to the Ripple Effect to bring clean water to more communities and create a ripple effect, positively impacting the lives of thousands of women and children.
Thank you for your thoughtful investment this year-end.
For the women and their future,
Stephen R Roese
President and Founder
A simple chain that we pay $7.80 for had broken, causing women to walk four hours to the river. Usually, this would have been the new normal for months or even years.
But not now. As you can see from the picture below, women pump mechanics were on the job in less than 24 hours and had repaired another of what we hope will be 500 well repairs in 2023.
We believe the water crisis is best solved by those most impacted by it– women. Over the past two years, they have proven this to be true in South Sudan! As of World Ward Day, March 22, 2023, here are some stats about our Women’s Well Repair Initiative:
15 women-led well repair teams trained
12 new teams in training
Over 400 wells repaired
Over 64,250 beneficiaries of clean water
As we grow, so will the impact!
Meet a few of the passionate recruits who are currently assessing wells in their communities. In April, they will complete their training, graduate, and begin repairing wells for communities in Aweil, South Sudan.
Elizabeth Nyibol Akol
My name is Elizabeth Nyibol Akol from Bar-Mayen Payam of Aweil Center County. I am married with five children. I am doing a business of tea making in Bar Mayen market. However, I have now acquired new skills in pump mechanics and shall get money to support my business and help myself. My children were not in school, but now I can pay their fees and give them the medical and basic services they need. With my new skills, I will work hard to provide the community with clean water. No one will fall sick again by drinking dirty water, and I will help my people and my family.
Arech Garang Amuk
My name is Arech Garang Amuk. I am a Dinka from Aweil residing in the home village of Mading. I am a married, single mother of 4 children. I have been a businesswoman working in a restaurant in the village that, unfortunately, I had to close at the end of October 2022. The collapsing of my business last year caused a lot of struggling since last year, and this caused my kids and me to spend some days without food. I decided to either move to Khartoum or commit suicide, but God intervened by sending the WESI organization to Aweil. I was selected as a pump mechanic and to be trained in well repair and business. The repair and business skills and knowledge will help me to revive my business. In training, I have received $100 as an incentive, and indeed, it is a great gift that I will use to reinvest into my business to earn profit for my kids. My hope is restored, and I thank WESI for giving me an opportunity to be a Pump Mechanic. I will repair more wells to provide clean drinking water, earn repair fees, and invest in the business. God gives ways. I have a way to go right away.
Achol Achol Lual
My name is Achol Achol Lual. I am a Dinka from Aweil from the home village of Madhol. I am married and have 3 children in school. I have been a businesswoman working in a restaurant in the village. I want to thank WESI organization and government authority for giving me the opportunity to be a Pump Mechanic. This will make me acquire more skills in pump maintenance and be part of the workforce that provides clean drinking water to the community. It will also earn me some money which will improve my business, pay school fees for my children, and provide medical services and other basic needs like food and clothing. In the community, clean drinking water will be available now that wells will be repaired and maintained because of available spare parts and increased pump mechanics in our community. Before this project and even now, the community did not have clean drinking water because no spare parts were available and technical personnel were minimal. This made the community victims of water-borne diseases. But now that women are involved in providing water to the community, this situation will be reversed altogether.
Maria Amou Yel
My name is Maria Amou Yel from Wathmuok Payam in Aweil South County. I am a Teacher in my village. I am married and blessed with 3 children. In this training, I learned new skills and knowledge about well repair and maintenance. Before, I didn’t even know the names of spare parts, but now I know them all. With these skills I have acquired, I can repair wells and ensure our community has clean drinking water. All this while, water is very scarce, and most parts of the community have no access to clean water, but now clean water will be available everywhere. Previously, it used to be men alone having the skills of well repair, but now I will be with women to provide communities with water. In this way, morbidity and mortality rates related to water-borne diseases will be reduced and lives in the communities will be improved. At my personal level, it will support my family and me financially, and I can pay school fees for my children and provide medical services, food, and clothing, among other things. This entire situation was different before I became Pump Mechanic.
Together we can support Elizabeth, Arech, Achol, Maria, and the new women-led well repair teams as they launch their businesses!
The focused team in South Sudan just completed a refreshment training with the fifteen women-led well repair teams. Sharing what is working and what is not is a great way to improve efficiency!
One technician shared a story about showing up to repair a borehole that was broken for over two years! On the day it stopped pumping water, a rainbow was sighted and, by local beliefs, went down into the borehole. Legend has it the rainbow possessed the borehole, and if you get too close to it, the rainbow will come up to take your skin and reduce you to bones.
So imagine the surprise when a woman well technician walks directly up to the borehole, disassembles the water pump, repairs it, and then pumps fresh, clean, beautiful water. Without losing her skin!
Clean water leads to education.
Education leads to freedom.
Freedom leads to opportunity and development.
Opportunity leads to a desire for peace.
One woman, trained in the business of well repair, dispelled a myth and brought clean water back to a village.
We remain grateful for your support and unabashed in asking for your continued generosity.
