Solar-Powered Well for a Health Clinic in Niger

I'm thrilled to announce that we have, just today, received a report on the completion of the solar-powered water system for the health care facility in Guidan Jibbe. I will share with you what our partners on the ground shared with us when they sent us the report: 

You have made a tremendous impact on this community through the provision of the water system. Women and families will now have a safe and hygienic Health Care Facility to visit. I can’t help but think of all the pregnant mothers and babies lives you will have saved in the years to come as they will no longer have to bring their own water to the clinic for their delivery and can take comfort in the knowledge that they will now have a sanitary delivery room and table on which to have their babies. It is truly a new future that you have charted for these health care providers and community members.

I certainly couldn't say it any better. Thank you so much for your support of the people of Niger through Wells Bring Hope! We are hard at work at raising the $50,000 needed to fund a water syster for a fourth health care facility so that we can bring safe water to more mothers, babies, and community members who so desperately need it. 

Thank you again for your compassion in action.

Construction has begun on our third health clinic water system, which will be delivering safe water to the health clinic and community of Guidan Jibbe in the Maradi region, which is located roughly 370 miles from Niamey, Niger's capital. Currently, the community's only water source is an unprotected, open well that the community, school, and clinic share. Water from the well is unsafe to drink and can cause death and disease. In addition to water quality issues from the open well, the quantity of water it provides is not enough to meet the community’s basic needs. Community members often must collect water from another well in a neighboring community that is primarily used to water cattle, which increases the risk of contamination.

The lack of safe water seriously impacts the ability of the healthcare providers to meet the  needs of the 3,000+ people who rely on the health clinic. Without  a safe water source, it is impossible to ensure proper hygiene and other infection prevention and control practices. Moreover, delivery of babies in the clinic involves a high risk of infection due to the lack of safe water on-site, which in turn makes women less likely to come to the facility to have their babies. As a result, pregnant women either choose to deliver babies at home without the assistance of a professional healthcare worker or travel longer distances to another clinic with better facilities. Both options are associated with an increased risk of infection and mortality.

Fortunately, this will all change within the next few months. Thanks to your support and the support of other Wells Bring Hope donors, the people of Guidan Jibbe and all those who access care at the clinic will benefit from a fully mechanized, solar-powered water system, which will serve the community, the local school, and the health care facility. 

Thank you, as always, for your compassion in action!

Between the funds raised here on GlobalGiving and the generous support of other longtime donors, we are just $11,000 away from fully funding a third health clinic water system! Our goal is to raise the balance of funds needed by the end of the year.

Our first two health clinic water systems continue to serve the people and patients of Kelloum Bawa and Kawaye.  The attached photo is a still from a video we recently received of women at the taps that serve the village in Kawaye. The joy in their faces is evident even in this still photo, and it's easy to understand why. These women went from having to walk miles every day in search of water that was often contaminated to having taps right in their village where they can access safe, clean water as easily as we do. 

The solar-powered, mechanized water system at the Kelloum Bawa Health Clinic is now complete! There is clean, running water in all three rooms—the examining room, the treatment room, and delivery room-- as well as hand-washing stations that allow access to safe water by simply turning on a tap. Women who are about to give birth no longer have the difficult burden of carrying water for their deliveries.

The people who live in the nearby village of Kelloum Bawa also have access to clean running water at a tap stand in the village. This means that the women and girls of Kelloum Bawa no longer have to spend hours every day walking for water that is often contaminated.

Now, more than ever, it’s critical that healthcare facilities have access to safe water. That’s why we’re committed to raising another $50,000 for a third health clinic solar-powered, mechanized water system, which I hope you’ll support. As always, 100% of your donation will go to saving lives in the poorest country in the world!

The water system for the health care facility that you helped make possible has been drilled in Kelloum Bawa, the village in which the clinic is located. Please see the attached photos from the day the well was drilled! The work to complete the mechanized system continues and is expected to be completed by the end of March. Once complete, this system will be composed of water points, or taps, within the village and the clinic itself. The importance of these taps cannot be overstated. Once they are up and running, the people of Kelloum Bawa and the patients at the health care facility will be able to access safe, clean water instantly, no walking or pumping required. They will simply turn on a tap, much like we do.

We are also thrilled to report that in addition to the solar water system for the health care facility, we also funded 51 handpump wells in 2020. These wells will provide safe water for roughly 51,000 people at a time when access to clean water is more important than ever before due to Covid-19.