Oxfam in Sudan - Dam builders
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It's a long trip to the hand-dug well that
the village currently depends on for water
Photo: Toby Adamson/Oxfam |
Kaguro village is in the Jebel Si mountains in western Sudan. It’s
a harsh environment to live in: there are no roads, and farming
is hard in the rocky terrain. But life is made even worse by the
inadequate water supply.
By March each year, the well just outside the village runs out
of water. Then women from Kaguro begin the regular trek to a well
seven kilometres away, to bring back a couple of jerry cans of water
which might last their family a couple of days. The well gets so
crowded that they often have to queue most of the day to take their
turn pulling up a bucket of water.
The solution, worked out by the villagers with Oxfam, is to build
a dam that will be ready before the rains start in July. Oxfam has
provided two-thirds of the money, and the villagers have contributed
the other third, as well as all the hard labour, collecting stones
to line the reservoir.
"When the dam is finished and filled with water, we will be
happy." Sita Adam Issa is enthusiastic about the difference
it will make to her life: "Our children will be clean. The
animals will be healthy, and we can plant vegetables, which can
give me some income. It will be much better."
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