By Maslah Mumin | BORESHA Project
We have all heard the saying, ‘never take anything for granted’ but very few of us live as this was true. Many of us are quick to complain and whine about miniscule and irrelevant things, very few take the time to actually feel grateful for the many things God has provided them with key among them being good health and the ability to open a tap and expecting clean safe water to flow. We tend to forget the bigger picture in life and our purpose here on earth. There are rare occasions which we are all reminded to never take life for granted and to always be appreciative of the little things we have. Something’s are simply too big to be taken in all at once and some can be very overwhelming and emotional as is Issack Liban’s story, a 56 year old chief from Abore village in Gedo Region of Somalia who has worked tirelessly to lobby for the construction of a water reservoir for his village.
Abore Village
For vulnerable and conflict-affected populations residing in Somalia’s Gedo region and specifically Abore village, access to safe drinking water often requires long, arduous hours of walking to the nearest water source. Abore Village which is one of our target locations is about 15 km from Dollow town where our offices are located. Staff are normally dropped off at the banks of Jubba river before crossing the river using a makeshift wooden raft then walking for a distance of 5km in order to access the remote village that borders Ethiopia in order to provide critical services including construction and rehabilitation of key water sources. Due to insecurity and the amount of time required to reach clean water, many individuals especially women frequently resort to drinking dirty, stagnant surface water, such as from puddles or rivers, that may have also been used for bathing, washing clothes, and cleaning kitchen utensils.
Meeting Chief Issack
Mr. Issack gets out of one of the aqals dressed in a yellow sarung locally known as macawis, white shirts with a sheet over his shoulders, a hat and a pair of unpolished black open shoes. He quickly moves to our direction after having a word with one of his children. He greets the team with Islamic greetings and apologizes for the noise from the children adding that, “this is what happens whenever we have guests, the children are all over the place”. Just as he concluded his statement, the son he was talking to, shows up with a flask full of tea and 3 iron cups locally known as “shakaba”. Mr. Issack is blessed with four children.
It is not a common practice for Somalis who have just met, to immediately get down to brass tacks and so we had to talk about current affairs, weather patterns, local developments among other general and contextual issues before zeroing in on the life changing multiple use water system the BORESHA project has constructed in his village, the first of its kind. We finally got down to business and Mr. Issack began painfully narrating the havoc caused by the lack of clean safe water in the village and the arduous journey they have had to make on a daily basis in order to access this precious commodity.
The grueling journey for water
For several decades, access to clean safe drinking water was a nightmare for the community members of Abore village in Somalia, the women and girls were the most affected due to the ascribed gender roles, they would occasionally be joined by young boys. Every single day without fail these women would walk for more than 10 km round trip to the nearest water source overcoming several challenges including the unforgiving heat which sometimes reaches 39 degrees centigrade, tough terrain and often having to carry the loaded water buckets on their backs on their way back home. We were taken aback by this story, not that it was news to us but rather a confirmation of the resilience of women in this part of the world, the ability to undergo such a daily nightmare and adapt to the situation is beyond commendable.
BORESHA Support
“As the chief of this village I have visited a number of NGO offices in Dollow town to lobby for the construction of a borehole or any type of water system for several years to no avail, however I never gave up,” Said Issack. In early 2019, the project conducted water survey and design, identifying the crucial need for Abore village community. To address the water shortage in this village, we constructed a hand dug generator powered well, pump house, storage tanks, water trough for cattle and water kiosks located at the centre of the village, accessible to the 300 households. This was the first step of a new era for the villagers: accessing quality water quickly and easily. “I thought the struggle for water would never end. I worried about water more than anything else in my life. It has been so long since I saw clean water in my village; it’s like a miracle to be honest. Majority of you will never know the worth of water until the well or taps run dry, that is why today I am very grateful to BORESHA for this intervention which has saved our children from water borne diseases and our people from the daily nightmare of walking for several kilometers, history has been made today,” said Issack.
Through our support the community formed water management committee to properly look after the water pumps, instruct local mechanics how to maintain and repair the water pumps, and galvanize residents to contribute towards repair costs. “This water system is not meant only for us, but for generations to come, you can rest assured that we will take care of this asset as if our lives depended on it since it literally does” said Issack.
For BORESHA this is an important step forward. But we cannot rest until we ensure that all earmarked construction/rehabilitation of key water sources in the cross-border areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are completed and that the communities residing there have access to clean water and sanitation that they and their families deserve. Together, we can achieve a world in which clean water for everyone is no longer a luxury, but a standard.
Next time you open your tap, and keep it running, remember there are millions of people across the word and certainly in Somalia who do not have that privilege.