Journal From Niger: The Power of Women Helping Women
It is the “job” of women to get water, and more often than not, their daughters help them; therefore, they do not have the opportunity to go to school. This is one of the great tragedies of West Africa. In villages where there is no safe water, girls don’t get an education.
We knew that in many parts of West Africa, women can walk miles every day, often, more than once a day to find and carry back water on their heads. It is arduous work and never-ending.
What we didn’t fully understand was the pain and hardship that women experience when pulling up water from a traditional well. There are things one needs to see firsthand to get the full impact, and this was one of them. This woman is doing it with a baby on her back.
To obtain their first water of the day, women wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning to line up. As one women said, “I’m always in trouble when I hear the cock crowing. I have to rush to get water.” Why? Because after a while the water stops flowing, and she will have to wait several hours until it fills up again. And so she and other women wake up early or sometimes sleep near the well, filled with tension about whether they will get enough water to cook with, to provide food for their families, water for their animals.
When we arrived, we saw what it was like for women to actually get water from a traditional well. With their basket tied to a long, heavy rope, more like thick twine, they lowered it into the well, 100 feet deep, (Some are as much as 150 feet deep.) and pulled 30 to 50 times, until it came to the surface. They did this at least three times, until they filled their plastic container with about 20 liters of water, weighing 45-50 lbs. They do this two or three times a day, everyday of their lives. As we watched, their faces revealed little, but they didn’t hesitate to tell us about what that hard work has done to their bodies.
When we saw the water they pulled up, our stomachs turned. One of our two female translators said that it was water she’d expect to see in a gutter, not even fit for animals.
The children in Garin Maikaka were not only dirty, but they looked unhealthy. Often, pus oozed from their eyes, noses dripping, flies swarming on their faces. 40% of the people in Niger have some stage of trachoma, which often leads to blindness. Trachoma comes from poor sanitation and not having clean water to wash the faces of children and the hands of adults. Flies landing on an infected eye can contaminate a healthy eye. It can spread quickly.
Other diseases like Guinea worm we heard about, in all its horror, from a village chief, a victim of it for thirty years. A worm actually lives and grows inside the body. There is no cure.
We talked with a mother holding her child with diarrhea, having nothing to wipe it with other than a stick. Niger has one of the highest childhood mortality rates in the world. About one in four children never make it to their fifth birthday and water-borne diseases account for nearly 20% of deaths in children under five. Another woman we talked to lost eleven of her twelve children, most of them, she believes, from contaminated water.
Because much of their day is taken up with fetching water and pounding millet, their dietary staple, women can’t adequately perform their role as mother. They are short on time to properly care for their children, wash their clothes—always rushing to prepare food.
They work non-stop, exhausted and aging before their time.
And the tragedy is that they know their lives could be better if they had safe, clean water. They prayed for it, and when it came, as it did in Garin Maikaka at the end of the week from the funds we raised, their delight was boundless.
We were fortunate to witness another well coming in, at the village of Miyaki, seeing a geyser of water spout high into the sky, the children running under it with pure joy.
To our delight, we celebrated with the villagers, who were thankful that this day had finally come. We were there with them as they lined up their jugs, waiting to taste the gift of clean water.
In the villages where we had recently drilled, we were welcomed like rock stars. Chants of “Nagode.” Nagode.” “Thank you.” “Thank you” filled our ears. (They also gave us chickens and even a goat!) And when the chief spoke before the entire village, with hundreds of people surrounding us, we took pride in knowing that our work and the generous donations of people like you made this happen. We shared their joy, knowing that their lives would be transformed forever.
To find out what happens over time when a village has safe water, we visited Dan Faro Korae, a village that got its first well in June, 2006, long before we had started our project. What impressed us most is what the women have created for themselves. Through the Micro Financing Enterprise Development Program started for them by World Vision, they became a village of entrepreneurial women. We talked with the leader, Zenabou, a strong, very competent woman to hear her “success story” and the stories of other women.
What businesses did these women undertake? A variety of ventures: making peanut oil, the way Zenabou, in her own words, "got rich,” making millet cakes, raising goats, chickens, selling eggs. When there were problems, the women came together, talked, and found solutions—Women helping women! We laughed when we heard Zenabou say that because of their financial success, the “power” has shifted: “Even the men are afraid of us.”
What we found interesting is that the women aspired to be like the women in “the city,” women who didn’t have to work so hard, who had a nice wardrobe of clothes, who could shop in stores and choose from a variety of fruits and vegetables. As in many parts of the world, women acquired new clothes as a measure of their success. Their colorful outfits were striking against the stark landscape of a typical Niger village.
What impressed us about our partner, World Vision, is the respect, patience, and kindness they show to villagers. We witnessed a community meeting, attended by the village chief, elders, and the women, all being encouraged to express their needs regarding other things to improve their quality of life. Giving the villagers a say in what will happen empowers them to take responsibility for their future.
We left Niger, newly inspired, dedicated to drilling more wells that bring safe water to more villages; thus, ending the awful burden of women, and improving the quality of life for everyone.
"Wells Bring Hope" has accomplished a great deal in a short time—10 wells in 10 months, but the need is great. We hope that we can inspire YOU to open your heart and be a part of our project with a generous donation. Our mission continues to be: “We are women helping women in one of the poorest countries in the world.”
For information on how to donate, please click on the “Donate and More” page.
Us with our World Vision Niger Team