Hle Seik village in Myanmar, never had a reliable source of drinking water, its own pond tending to dry out during summer months. This meant that during the dry season people had the exhausting daily trek to other villages' ponds to bring back enough for their family's needs.
Then in 2008, even this source of water was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.
However, by the following year, thanks to an Oxfam rainwater tank the village now has its own reliable reservoir of clean water. This stores water collected during the monsoon to supply drinking water during the dry season. It was a major event for the community, who acknowledged the tank's completion by inscribing it with the date and village's name.
Nyein Nyein is also the village's water, hygiene and sanitation volunteer, and she has seen the difference the tank has made: "When we heard that Oxfam was building a Rain Water Collection Tank here, all the villagers were very pleased. When the dry months come, we don't need to worry about drinking water, thanks to the water we've collected during the monsoon season."