By Jimmy Gahima | Donor Liaison, World Vision Rwanda
Esperance, a middle-aged-woman living in the remote area of Huye District, changed her life with a water tap. When World Vision, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, constructed a water pipeline in her community, Esperance went the next step to install a water tap at her home. This decision has changed her family’s living conditions forever.
When she shares her family’s past, Esperance talks about the misery her daughters faced before having access to clean water. Now she praises World Vision for changing their life and future. “My daughters used to be so frustrated…walking from the foothills to fetch water with no hope for that situation to change,” says Esperance. “They used to wake up around 5:30 a.m. every day to fetch water.” The water was so polluted, especially during the rainy season when the flooding made the water quality worse. “Fetching water was the female child’s responsibility…the male siblings would go to look for the cows,” says Esperance. During that period, all her school-aged children performed poorly. They would miss class or arrive late, affecting their learning. Esperance’s first born completed classes through primary six, but her performance was so poor, she didn’t continue her education.
The family lived hand-to-mouth and did not have a source of income outside of traditional farming. The new water tap has changed all of this for Esperance’s family. Today, they have developed different sources of income. They are considered a model family in the village, all based on their access to clean water. “My husband and I had to fend for our family of seven just by cultivating [farming] as all peasants. But currently we have four cows with two of them giving us seven liters of milk per day. We sell five liters, while the remaining two are for us to consume,” Esperance says. The additional milk production quantities are attributed to the cows having ample water to drink. With the household water tap, the cows have plenty of water.
For Esperance, having the water tap at home was another crucial advantage that led her to start growing different varieties of vegetables in a kitchen garden. “Previously, we used to lend a small plot near the marshland to be able to cultivate vegetables during the summer. But, all things would not go as planned because sometimes they would end up being dry,” she adds.
Esperance has benefited from the cows’ good production. She repurposes the manure the cows produce for fertilizer. The manure, plus ample water, is used in her kitchen garden to grow better crops. Her kitchen garden is doing so well, she can sell some of the produce. She saves the extra money and today she deposits FRw2,000 (over $2) every week.
Esperance credits all their success to clean water. With access to the water tap, they can now pay for school fees and health insurance for their children. “We renovated our house and joined a savings group. We attribute and thank World Vision for reviving our hope and restoring our dignity,” she says.
By Bernadette Martin | Project Manager
By Tamiru Chewaka | Donor Liaison, World Vision Ethiopia
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
