The following story comes from Mossisa Challa, a beneficiary of our water project in Ethiopia in partnership with Water First:

Mossisa Challa is now employed by the community to operate one of the 11 public water points. His job is to collect a modest fee (2 cents) for each 5-gallon container of water. The money is used for operating costs and to establish a savings fund to make repairs when something breaks. Operating costs include the fuel used to power the pump that fills the community storage tank and a modest stipend to incentivize each tap attendant to open the water point and collect the fees.

Mossisa is very grateful for the new water project. Now his girls can collect water in 5 minutes. They used to spend 1.5 hours collecting dirty water. This gives them time to do other activities around the house and attend school. He notices that his kids are healthier. They aren’t getting diarrhea. Mossisa says even his donkeys are more productive. They used to be tired from carrying water from the river. Now they are rested and ready to work when he needs them to carry something to market.  Continue Reading »

We always hear our doctor’s advice to stay hydrated and to drink lots of water. Thankfully, staying hydrated and drinking lots of water isn’t very hard to do – I just need to keep my glass full and remember to grab a water bottle on my way out the door before work.

Ease of access to water is something for which I am very grateful, knowing that this is not the case for many people around the world.  In fact, before CWR completed a project with our partner Water First in the Tute Kunche community of Ethiopia, this was not even an option. Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries and has one of the lowest standards of living. Unclean water and poor hygiene are the cause of many diseases and deaths, especially in young children. Residents of this area had to travel extensively just to fill water jugs with unclean, unsafe water.

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