The project team, together with pastors from the Sudan Interior Church (SIC), joined with each village on four consecutive Sundays to give thanks for God’s provision and dedicate the new boreholes... and eat lots of goat!

It was very special to hear words of thanks and to see people using the boreholes. It is hard for those of us who take piped water to our homes for granted to appreciate how the boreholes transform life for these villages. Whereas before they had to walk 30 minutes to a dirty river, now they can walk to the edge of the village and bring home crystal clear water. It has made all the costs, difficulties, and challenges along the way worthwhile.

We’d like to say a big thank you to Development Solutions (our contractor), the water project team—particularly Joseph Jaden responsible for community liaison--and the SIC church that has supported us in many ways.

The First Drops–a Water Supply System for SIA Clinic at Rom

The water supply system for Rom clinic is now complete. Though the system was many months in the designing and planning stages, it needed to be built in only two and a half days! Dau arrived with a truck load of building materials and began washing sand and gravel. Justin arrived a week later by air with three plastic tanks and pipe fittings. The stage was set...

Day 1: We explained the system to the clinic staff and our two construction workers, located the tank stands, and drilled holes in the three tanks for the connecting pipework.

Day 2: We concreted in the tank stands and connected up the pipework between the tanks. We then made a concrete stand for the hand pump by the river, dug trenches and laid the pipes from the river to the pump and from the pump to the system. We just had time to test the pump and fill the settlement tank before nightfall...

Day 3: We finished washing sand and filling the sand filter, and connected a few last pieces of pipework. To finish, we made a drain for the dirty settled water and erected a barbed wire fence around the system. As the taxi waited to take us to Malakal, the first drops of filtered water emerged into the final tank!

Everyone is very pleased with how well the system works and the quality of water produced. Dau remained for a couple of weeks longer to build a tap stand by the clinic and connect it to the system, and train people in its operation. He has also visited villages to undertake a survey and gauge interest in buying the good water from the system.

On behalf of these villages and the clinic which now enjoy clean and accessible water, we thank you for your partnership with the Safe Drinking Water project. We could not make this difference without you!

Water Project Update: June 2011