This gift in action
Jessica Batoure from Sirguin, in Burkina Faso, knows the benefits of having a supply of clean water in her school grounds for drinking and washing, and for many children it’s an added incentive to come to class.
Oxfam has installed water points as part of education projects across West Africa. In the village of Intedeyne in Mali, for example, we helped the community to dig boreholes to reach underground springs, and build a solid, cement-lined well.
Having a reliable water supply and simple irrigation system has enabled the local school to start their own vegetable garden. Women and children now grow vegetables specifically for school meals. The garden supplies onions, cabbage, beetroot, aubergines, potatoes and yams.
Fatimata Walett Tokha has children at the school. She is also head of the village’s Mothers’ Association and works in the school vegetable garden. She explains the difference that it has made: “We knew that without at least one decent meal a day, some of the children wouldn’t be able to come to school. Many of the children have to come a long way to class and knowing that they will get something to eat is extremely important to them.”
“We are proud and glad that we have made a success of our vegetable garden: it is so beneficial for the children.”