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Bibiche: Good morning! We are in the Saza neighborhood. I am the president of the water committee. My name is Bibiche. We are here with other members of our water committee, the vice president, the secretary, the treasurer, and the other members of the committee. We are happy to be here.
Karl: Will you show us first the well that you are responsible for?
Bibiche: The well is here. The well is dug, but we are not able to access the water yet. We are still waiting for more funds so World Vision can finish building the well so we can help our community.
Karl: How did you become president of the water committee?
Bibiche: We were chosen by our communities to be part of the water committee. They called us to take part in trainings in how to manage water sites. We followed the pas a pas (step by step) methodology to manage our water. We are very happy with the formation and happy that you came to see us today.
Karl: What has motivated you to continue the work of the water committee?
Bibiche: We don’t have much drinking water accessible to us in our community. I am happy that I was chosen to be part of this committee because water is such a great need here.
Karl: Are you sure that you won’t be the only person to benefit from the water well functioning?
Bibiche: No, I will not be the only one to benefit from this water, but the children of this community will benefit the most.
Karl: You said that water is important in the life of a person. How will you manage the water?
Bibiche: We will manage the water how we learned in our seminar. How to manage people in the committee, how to manage the water, how to manage money that we receive from the well, etc.
Karl: Where will contributions come from?
Bibiche: The contributions will come from the community, not outside of it.
Karl: How will you keep the money safe?
Bibiche: We will keep it in the cashbox, and also at the bank.
Karl: Who will keep watch over the water site?
Bibiche: It will be many people who will be responsible for looking after the water pump.
Karl: How will they be paid?
Bibiche: They will be paid from the money that is saved in our community cashbox that we receive from people’s payment for water.
Karl: Do you have something to add, something else you would like that say about this?
Bibiche: I will call over another member of the committee.
Bridgitte: I am happy that you have come here, because right now we have been waiting for a while to receive our water. Like the President said I will add that we, the women, have a lot of difficulties to help our families. We see that many people have contributed to help have this well dug, and we are thankful. But we hope people will continue to help us until we see that this water point is finished and serving the community.
Karl: Many organizations have come with the similar goals here in Gemena. But before, the organizations would do all the work themselves. World Vision is different because they are training the community to manage the water themselves. Do you think you will be able to manage this water even if World Vision leaves today?
Bridgitte: We are going to manage this very well. This is our community, and during the training they taught us about the story of Jacob in the Bible, and how he managed his water. We will do the same as Jacob did, here in Gemena. If we have problems or issues we will call the people who helped us drill the well and install the solar panels. They will help us fix whatever problem we have.
Karl: Water is not from or for World Vision, it is for the community, so please keep managing your water source well. Thank you so much!
