Posted Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 by Field Notes
RWANDA – Kayenzi, Nyabikenke, Karongi district GPS: 02 05.166 S, 029 24.584 E On a typical day in the dry season, Ange Nyirabukobwa takes her jerry cans to the nearest water source—this tapped spring. She opens the spigot all the way. Drip. Drip. Drip. “It is the dry season, so the water... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 by Field Notes
NAMIBIA – Tsintsabis, Oshikoto GPS: 18 45.964 S, 17 58.078 E The San people are the most oppressed people group in Namibia. They have been “resettled” many times, typically in barren areas of wilderness that make making a living—surviving, even—extremely difficult. They depend... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, August 26th, 2010 by Field Notes
KENYA – Tunyai Health Center, Tharaka District GPS: 00 10.561 S, 037 50.148 E Tunyai is one of the areas worst hit by the current drought. The residents’ only way of getting clean water is through rain catchment—and with no rain in sight, the people have resorted to purchasing dirty... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 by LWI Editor
It is with deep sadness that Living Water International celebrates the life and mourns the tragic death of our friend and colleague, Woodrow Alan Glaze. A co-laborer in Liberia, West Africa, Alan died early in the morning on August 2nd, at JFK Memorial Hospital in Monrovia. His cause of death... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, August 12th, 2010 by Field Notes
BURKINA FASO – Dano Pari, Ioba GPS: 11 07.040 N, 003 04.232 W Meet Barry Laya. She is a farmer in Dano Pari. Without water, she cannot make a living. “To go to work, I had to search for water,” she recalls. “If the water from the hand dug well ran out, we had to go to the creek... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 by Jonathan Wiles
UGANDA – For a generation of schoolchildren in the Ruhaama District, life is changing. A year ago, Living Water Uganda kicked off an exciting new program–supplying clean water to communities in the Ruhaama District by partnering with local schools (watch the video to see what we... [Read more]
Posted Monday, July 12th, 2010 by LWI Editor
Twin bomb attacks rocked the Ugandan capital of Kampala on Sunday afternoon. The blasts occurred within 50 minutes of each other, one at a popular Ethiopian restaurant and the second at a crowded rugby club. Both venues were packed with people watching the World Cup final. 74 people, including... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 by Field Notes
BURKINA FASO – Nakar, Ioba GPS: 11 10.717 N, 003 14.639 W In many communities where we work, the people use water for more than drinking and washing. The Dagara people of Burkina Faso live in houses made of handmade mud bricks. A key ingredient in mud bricks? Water. And when it isn’t... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, July 1st, 2010 by Field Notes
NAMIBIA – Tsintsabis, Oshikoto, Manguetti Plains GPS: 18 45.091 S, 17 56.827 E Meet Mathou. Born on the east side of the Etosha pan (a vast, dry salt pan in the northern part of the country), he learned at a very young age how to survive in this harsh environment. “As a child I learned... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Field Notes
BURKINA FASO – Kouri, Ioba GPS: 11 05.108 N, 003 02.588 W It was a small thing, really. A loose screw. That’s what stood between the people of Kouri and clean water. “After our pump broke, we had to leave and go a great distance to search for water,” says Elalie Some, a farmer in... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Christ our Hope Orphanage, Mont County GPS: 06 16.309 N, 010 42.544 W When our team arrived at Christ our Hope Orphanage, the children were waiting and eager to see us. They watched with rapt curiosity as we set up the rigs. Other children passed by with wheelbarrows, hauling... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, June 17th, 2010 by Field Notes
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – Berberati, Ca Va, Mambere Kadei Province GPS: 04 15.640 N, 015 47.500 E More than half of the people we talked to before we began the well repair told us that they had symptoms of intestinal parasites because of the area’s water and sanitation issues. Our hygiene... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 by Field Notes
ETHIOPIA – Meki, Oda Dagaga GPS: 08 12.046 N, 38 48.610 E The people of the Meki community in Oda Dagaga used to get their drinking water from a hole in the ground. There was never really enough for everyone, and the water was making the people sick. Herpo Barassa, a local farmer, said, “When... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, June 10th, 2010 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Blessing Community, Montserrado County GPS: 06 23.467 N, 010 48.224 W Blessing Community has two wells that were rehabilitated by Living Water. The population of the community is too high for two hand dug wells to sustain their water needs. The wells go dry during the dry season... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 by Field Notes
GHANA – Adansi Wuruyie, Ashanti GPS: 05 58.425 N, 001 19.381 W After the hand pump at the public school in Adansi Wuruyie failed, Headmaster Benjiman Anhwere made an appeal to the government to come and fix it. After all, they had installed the pump. No one ever came. Frustrated, Headmaster... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 by Field Notes
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – Bomassana, Ombela Mpoko GPS: 05 34.852 N, 017 36.462 E Whenever a Living Water team arrives at a broken well, one tragic fact is evident: this community once had clean water and now, it’s gone. The pump may have been broken for couple of months or for several... [Read more]
Posted Friday, May 21st, 2010 by Field Notes
KENYA – Tunyai Health Centre, Tharaka District GPS: 00 10.561 S, 037 50.148 E Tunyai is a relatively busy health center that tends to more than 100 patients each day. HIV/AIDS, malaria, and intestinal parasites are the most common diseases treated here, though many people also suffer... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, May 13th, 2010 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Camp Johnson Road Community, Monrovia GPS: 06 18.791 N, 010 48.102 W Then—1,050 students at the C.D.B. King School in the Camp Johnson Road Community used to drink water from this well. Now—1,050 students at the C.D.B. King School drink water from this well. “The old well... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 by LWI Editor
Sunday, April 4 2010—Easter Sunday—marked the first anniversary of Bethany Community Church’s Spilling Hope initiative, carried out in partnership with Living Water International. In the months leading up to Easter 2009, I was praying about how God could use the collective resources of... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 by Paul Darilek
Living Water International has joined forces with Oak Hills Church of San Antonio in support of The Dagara mission team, a vibrant church planting movement in the West African country of Burkina Faso. Since 2002 the Dagara team has been planting churches, presenting the gospel message, and... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 by Field Notes
RWANDA – Josi, Karongi District GPS: 02 04.955 S, 029 22.518 E More than a thousand people in and around this village walked two kilometers to gather water from a spring. During the dry season—when the spring dried up—they walked even father, getting water from the river or the lake.... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, April 15th, 2010 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Zaye Town, Montserrado County GPS: 06 24.063 N, 010 47.359 W The people of Zaye Town welcomed the drill team with joy and happiness, shouting things like, “Our suffering is over in the name of Jesus!” The completion of this project was a great blessing for the entire Zaye Town... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 by Field Notes
RWANDA – Kayove, Gisenyi GPS: 01 52.467 S, 029 21.062 E The spring water they were drinking was clear and cool—but the village had been suffering from waterborne illnesses and widespread diarrhea. The water looked clean, but it wasn’t. The community took great pains to prepare the site... [Read more]
Posted Friday, April 2nd, 2010 by Field Notes
UGANDA – Kyentaama, Ntungamo District GPS: 00 55.282 S, 030 28.382 E This swamp isn’t very big—but when it’s the only source of water for your village, you find a way to bathe here, wash clothes here, clean your bike here, water your animals here. Your children even play here. Oh, and... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 by Field Notes
RWANDA – Kabatara, Karongi District GPS: 02 02.632 S, 029 24.283 E When our drill rig and compressor truck got stuck in the mud at this village in Rwanda, the people all came to our aid and brought rocks and tree branches to help us get out. We eventually got un-stuck and were able to drill... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, March 18th, 2010 by Field Notes
KENYA – Matiliku Hospital, Nzaui GPS: 01 56.980 S, 037 32.161 E This area of Kenya is very dry. Water is a scarce commodity, and people are used to walking long distances to find it. Most people use dirty water from shallow wells. At the clinic, the most common diseases are malaria,... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, March 18th, 2010 by Susanna Donald
Do you remember what you got for your 16th birthday? Kailyn Paris got water. Nearly 1,000 dollars’ worth. All for kids in Africa. Kailyn is a member of the youth group at Mission Hills Community Church, a congregation in California that spent eight weeks raising more than $62,000 for Living... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, March 11th, 2010 by Field Notes
NAMIBIA – Tsinsabis, Oshikoto GPS: 18 45.576 S, 17 57.934 E This old African bush pump was worn beyond the point of repair. For several years now, Living Water has done something no other organization has done for Tsinsabis—we have maintained this pump so that people could continue to use... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, March 4th, 2010 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Williams Community, Sanjeh District GPS: 06 51.251 N, 010 49.117 W Margretta Brown is a teacher in Williams Community, where they used to drink this water—water that gave the people cholera, typhoid, dysentery, malaria, and worms. Not only was Living Water able to rehabilitate... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 by Susanna Donald
UPDATE: On the morning of January 10, 2010, St. Louis resident and Team Living Water member Chris Juhasz reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain. (If you missed the original story leading up to the climb, you can read it here.) After months of preparation, six... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 by Susanna Donald
Walking up a hill—really, walking anywhere other than our refrigerators or kitchen sinks—to fetch a pail of water may seem like the stuff of nursery rhymes, but in rural Africa, countless hours are spent each day fetching water from distant (and often polluted) sources. Typically, the task... [Read more]
Posted Monday, January 4th, 2010 by Field Notes
NAMIBIA – Sharakwe Village, Rundu GPS: 18 02.143 S, 19 45.684 E Meet Sofia. She’s a deacon in the Full Gospel Church here in Sharakwe. Sofia found us while we were drilling a well at another church in a nearby village. She came to us pleading for help. “Without clean water, our children... [Read more]
Posted Monday, December 21st, 2009 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE—Newton, Batama Village GPS: 08 19.192 N, 012 58.309 W Like many people in Sierra Leone, the people of Batama Village have very little. There are nine houses in the village, even though more than fifty people live here. It takes one hour to walk from here to the nearest school,... [Read more]
Posted Monday, December 7th, 2009 by Stan Patyrak
My teeth are chattering on this bumpy road. The fog just gave way to light rain. Ikumbi Health Center is about 7 clicks behind us. Post-election violence rocked this region not too long ago. Three tribes, all at once, seemed to want to concentrate on being three different tribes instead of... [Read more]
Posted Monday, November 30th, 2009 by LWI Editor
RWANDA We know that clean water is the foundation for all other types of community development, but it isn’t just because people need clean water to drink. Many benefits of clean water come when the communities we serve understand and value good hygiene practices—things we in the Western... [Read more]
Posted Monday, October 26th, 2009 by Susanna Donald
MALAWI—Chamba 2 Village, Nkhotakota District GPS: 12 56.155 S, 034 14.470 E At first, it seems you have three choices: get your family’s drinking water from a mud hole swirling with dirt and bacteria, risk life and limb drawing water from a crocodile-infested river, or pay to use the well... [Read more]
Posted Monday, October 5th, 2009 by Field Notes
ETHIOPIA—Kimpe Village, Lake Langano GPS: 07 31.826 N; 038 48.465 E The communities on the southern shore region of Lake Langano in the Rift Valley are considered some of the poorest people in Ethiopia. They live marginalized lives and support their families as subsistence farmers. Most... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 28th, 2009 by Susanna Donald
Did you know that the average Ugandan has only a 3rd grade education? Considering how much time they spend gathering water from distant sources or how many fall seriously ill with cholera, typhoid, or dysentery from drinking dirty water, a 3rd grade education could be regarded as a miracle. Hands... [Read more]
Posted Monday, August 24th, 2009 by Susanna Donald
NIGERIA – Zing Community, Taraba State, GPS: 08 56.864 N, 011 52.180 W. Number of villages: 5. Number of people in each village: 5,000. Number of pumps providing clean water to these villages: 0. Those were the statistics for Zing, a region along the eastern edge of Nigeria, before LWI went... [Read more]
Posted Friday, June 12th, 2009 by Staci Abdulla
Earlier this year, Staci and Beau Abdulla (along with their children, Madison and Braden) moved to Kampala to establish a headquarters for a new LWI program in Uganda. Over the next three years, their goal is to implement 140 new water solutions. To get this started, Staci and Beau are traveling... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Forestry Development Authority Community Site #2 GPS: 06 19.659 N, 010 40.078 W The F.D.A. Community Site #2 was founded in the late 1980s by the government of President Samuel K. Doe. The community got its name because the Doe government established the Head Office of the Forestry... [Read more]
Posted Monday, April 13th, 2009 by Stan Patyrak
It’s the dry season in Ghana right now; while the capital city of Accra has seen rain, it’s been dry for quite some time up here in the northern region of Bolga. This area is approximately two hours north of Tamale, and it’s a journey of extreme contrasts. Congested city life, concrete... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 by Susanna Donald
MALAWI – Mulimia Village, Mulanje District GPS: 16 06.773 S, 035 33.366 E What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning? Maybe you think about what you’ll eat for breakfast, or maybe maybe you think about your to-do list for the day. Maybe you think about hitting... [Read more]
Posted Monday, March 23rd, 2009 by Stan Patyrak
You may have never heard of it, but it’s still on the map. Central African Republic. Only slightly larger than the state of Texas, C.A.R. is often forgotten. The stats are overwhelming. - One in five children dies before their fifth birthday. - Over 60% of the country lives on less than a... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 by Susanna Donald
SIERRA LEONE – Mahera, #4 Aku Town Road GPS: 08 36.220 N, 013 11.840 W Almost everyone who celebrates Christmas has at least one: a memory of that extra-special Christmas gift that stands out among the forgotten piles of torn wrapping paper. Maybe you especially remember the time you got... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 by LWI Editor
People in Marsabit District of Northern Kenya live on the edge of life. The land is dry; the people are poor; life is hard. Where there is water, people build a few buildings and call it a town. Sometimes, the water comes from rain-catchment ponds; other times, it comes from deep boreholes.... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, December 18th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Kormah Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 22.215 N, 010 40.536 W In the center of Kormah Town are the charred remains of a cement block house, a skeletal reminder of the terrible civil war that drove many of these people from their homes. There is only a vague remnant of the lives the people... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LWI-Angola began operations in 2006; since then, the team of trained nationals has completed more than 60 water projects, primarily in the Cuenene province near the city of Ondjiva. School supplies and medicine have also been distributed as part of an effort to bring communities to health and... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, November 20th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Kissitown United Nations Refugee Camp Section H, Police Stop, New Road, Waterloo GPS: 08 20.108 N, 013 02.351 W Why are these children smiling? Well, for one thing, they now have access to clean drinking water. Even better than that, though, is the fact that they don’t... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, November 9th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Mensaa Community GPS: 06 20.385 N, 010 33.389 W Amid the make-shift homes of tarps and tins, the 600 people of Mensaa Community have lived desperate lives ever since a brutal civil war ravaged their country. When you don’t know when or from where something as simple as your next... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Geewroh Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 20.622 N, 010 39.456 W Geewroh Town is the oldest settlement in the Mt. Barclay township, dating back to the early 1800s. Its 350 inhabitants rely on farming and gardening for their livelihoods, selling their crops at Mount Barclay Market Day once... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – IDP Market Junction GPS: 06 20.789 N, 010 39.350 W IDP Market Junction is an area that was originally established to protect displaced people from widespread violence during Liberia’s civil war. This area grew into the busy community it is today because the people who lived here... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Peace Community, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06.20 503 N, 010 39.490 W Imagine risking your life every day for a chance to drink dirty water that will most likely make you sick. That’s exactly what the women and children of Peace Community had to do before LWI-Liberia came and drilled a... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, November 1st, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Kissi Quarter Police Station, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 20.945 N, 010 39.251 W In June, another civic duty was allocated to the police in the Kissi Quarter of Liberia’s Mt. Barclay region: protect the valuable new resource of clean water. For years, the 300 families who call this community... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, November 1st, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Zorgai Town GPS: 06 20.852 N, 010 39.412 W After fleeing from the rebel forces during Liberia’s brutal civil war, the people of Zorgai Town returned to find their home left in ruin. Houses were looted and destroyed. Hand pumps on wells were stolen, and the wells were smashed or... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, October 30th, 2008 by Susanna Donald
LIBERIA – Balatina Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 25.216 N, 010 35.421 W Little more than a mud puddle. That’s all the 500 residents of Balatina Town had to meet their water needs during the dry season. And the dry season? It’s six months long. Like clockwork, every November, the community... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, October 30th, 2008 by Susanna Donald
SUDAN – Harvester’s Compound, Yei. So often we tell the stories of people who rely on open wells or murky swamps for their drinking water; people for whom water itself is the biggest threat to their lives and livelihoods. Many of these stories have happy, hopeful endings, with LWI... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, October 25th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Gbolokpashu Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 26.231 N, 010 34.215 W When the people of Gbolokpashu Town had to choose where to put their community’s new well, they didn’t choose the center of town. Instead, they chose to put the well on a frequently traveled dirt road in order to better... [Read more]
Posted Monday, October 20th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Kollimei Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 25.337 N, 010 35.530 W If you were thirsty and had to walk 30 minutes to get a drink of water, you’d do it, wouldn’t you? What if the water you walked for 30 minutes to get was muddy creek water? What if you had to carry heavy jugs of that... [Read more]
Posted Friday, October 17th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Rural Education Committee Primary School, Newton GPS: 08 20.031 N, 012 59.732 W When Mrs. Isatu B. Usman attended the Rural Education Committee Primary School in Newton, Sierra Leone, there were four classrooms in the main building. Children traveled from other areas to... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, October 16th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Line Moriah Well, Old Matoir GPS: 08 28.456 N, 012 24.590 W Years ago, the villagers of Old Matoir came together and hand dug a water well in front of the mosque in their town. In 2004, a Bangladesh ministry came and put cement around the outside of the well, and the community... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, October 12th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Gbokolleh Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 24.439 N, 010 35.947 W Every day, nearly 800 people relied on a single hand-dug well in the center of Gbokolleh Town for their water needs. During the six-month dry season, the well dried up and the people suffered. LWI-Liberia and Advent Conspiracy... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, October 12th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Number 3 Gassama Street, Calaba Town GPS: 08 26.187 N, 013 99.780 W Not long ago, many of the young men gathered around this well were child soldiers, kidnapped and traumatized by the rebels in Sierra Leone’s ten-year civil war. Now, they’re a part of the Nehemiah Boys... [Read more]
Posted Friday, October 10th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Number 10 Gassama Street, Calaba Town GPS: 08 26.170 N, 013 09.831 W As the twenty-third Advent Conspiracy sponsored hand pump was installed in Sierra Leone, the caretaker of the well began dancing around the pump, shouting, “Good, good, good! Tenke, tenke!!” More than... [Read more]
Posted Monday, October 6th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Dennis Town GPS: 0623.590 N, 01039.305 W In Liberia there is a village of 500 people called Dennis Town. Its source of water used to be a small creek, a great health hazard to the people. We spent three days in the town, constructing the well, connecting with the people, and... [Read more]
Posted Friday, October 3rd, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Holy Family School, Calaba Town. GPS: 08 25.772 N, 013 10.275 W. God brought Living Water International Sierra Leone to Holy Family School when they were repairing another hand pump in Calaba Town. LWI needed stone for the hand pump and were told they could find some on the... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Mercy Children’s Orphanage, Mano Village, Pump One. GPS: 08 19.242 N, 013 02.573 W. This well was recently dug to provide water for the community, the 15 children and staff at Mercy Children’s Orphanage, and the 350 children and teachers at the primary school next door.... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Wellington Orphanage Primary & Secondary School, Wellington GPS: 08 77.049 N, 013 10.395 W For eleven years, the students at the Wellington Orphanage Primary and Secondary School got their drinking water by lowering a dirty bucket into an open well. For eleven years,... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 by Susanna Donald
SIERRA LEONE – Newton Community for Amputees and War Wounded GPS: 08 27.409 N, 013 10.930 W Early in Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war, Ibraham Fofanah didn’t think the situation could get any worse. That’s why he decided to flee the country and seek refuge in Guinea. Before he made... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Linba Community Well, Kuntorloh. GPS: 08 27.408 N, 013 10.932 W. Yeanoh Sesay, the caretaker of this well, had his work cut out for him. More than five hundred people depend on this well daily. It does not run dry during the dry season, so many others come here when their wells... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 29th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Seonkpa, Mt. Barclay District GPS: 0621.799 N, 01038.535 W. The small town of Seonkpa sits along a creek that serves many other villages along its banks. The villages use this river for washing, bathing, and drinking water. The town is in the Mt. Barclay district, not far off... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Muslim Brotherhood Primary School, Old Matoir. GPS: 08 28.557 N, 012 24.661 W. The well at the Muslim Brotherhood Primary School in Old Matoir was dug by teachers and community members in 2007, after three students contracted cholera and died. The year before, two other students... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, September 25th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE - Waterloo, Kissitown United Nation High Commission for Refugees Camp. GPS: 08 20.383 N, 013 02.782 W. Section D of the Kissitown United Nation High Community Commission for Refugees Camp is one of the older sections of this massive camp that approximately 60 thousand Liberian... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Limba Corner, Matoir, Tonkolili District GPS: 08 29.087 N, 012 25.040 W Matoir (pronounced Ma-toy) is a very old community with a very old hand-dug well. No one could remember exactly when the well was established, but the older people in the village remember it being there... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 by Robin Weekley
SIERRA LEONE – We had just set foot in Sierra Leone, made our way east from the ferry terminal and took a sharp right turn onto the first of many fissured roads that wind their way into the communities surrounding Freetown. It’s the rainy season now and the air and the ground... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, September 20th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Fahntutter Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 25.826 N, 010 35.257 Because of the rocky soil in the area, the people of Fahntutter Town weren’t able to dig a well for their community. Instead, the women and children would spend an hour walking to and from a creek, carrying jugs full of... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Calaba Town Medical Center, Old Road, Calaba Town GPS: 08 26.196 N, 013 09.728 W Last year, an outbreak of cholera swept through the community, killing several people. Shallow hand dug wells and a nearby stream serve as the primary water sources for the town. The Adams family... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 15th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Grafton, Polio Challenge Association, Pump One GPS: 08 23.319 N, 013 09.310 W High in the mountains of Sierra Leone, about an hour away from Freetown, is the community known as the Grafton Polio Challenge Association. Established in 1992, the community was founded to assist... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 15th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Mano Corner GPS: 08 19.551 N, 013 03.400 W This well was hand dug by PLAN (an NGO) in 1988. For two years, the pump hasn’t worked. The Chief and caretaker of the well, Pa Alimamy Kamara, greeted us with excitement. He told us how desperate the community was for clean... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, September 13th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Kankaylay Islamic Primary & Secondary School, Sumbuya Village, Lungi GPS: 08 34.051 N, 013 09.740 W In 1999, the government installed a hand pump near this school, but by 2006 all the pipes and the pump were stolen. The community was left with a rubber container and... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 12th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
SIERRA LEONE. The Atlantic Slave Trade began right here in Freetown. We stood on this trash-scattered West African shore one morning praying before the day began. We imagined the scene as wooden ships from Europe–the Christian World–poured in to pick up their products: the chaos,... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 12th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
SIERRA LEONE. Crabtown is a feces spreading ecosystem. In 10 years of working in clean water and sanitation in the third world I have never seen anything like this. It’s hard to conceive of a worse sanitation situation. It’s as though everything here has conspired to make people ill.... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 12th, 2008 by Field Notes
The village of Kuntorloh is a large community in the hills approximately 15 minutes east of the capital of Sierra Leone. It is a community that has a few taps, but is predominantly served by open, hand dug wells. Many people use water from the stream or other filthy water sources. This particular... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, September 11th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Garkpah Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 19.498 N, 010 37.653 W The 600 people who call Garkpah Town home are beginning to resettle in the community that was taken from them by years of civil war. Most of the people here were displaced by the violence. In coming home, they also returned... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, September 11th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Huntingdon Community, Jui, Freetown GPS: 08 24.761 N 013 07.788 W Huntingdon Community is in rural Freetown, approximately 6 miles off the main road. Their well was hand dug by Oxfam in the 1980s; over time, the pump literally wore out. Part of the pump completely broke... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – Liberia’s civil war was atrocious. Child soldiers, forced recruits, kids given drugs to make them fight, rape, brutality and darkness of every kind imaginable. The people at the IDP (Internally Displaced Person’s) Camp in Mount Barclay would have plenty reasons to be unhappy.... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – What did you get last Christmas? Was it something so valuable that you protected it? Covered it in plastic? Cased in glass? Set in stone? Do you even remember? When I told the people of Gbazi Town, Liberia that I didn’t remember what I got for Christmas they laughed. They... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – This pretty green Liberian rice paddy caught our eye so we thought we’d get some film of it. As we talked to the people who worked it we found out that it is a work project for people who are HIV positive. They’re the lepers of the 21st century. Marginalized. People don’t... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Field Notes
SUDAN – Undisclosed location* This pump was located on the outskirts of an area where many extremely poor and internally displaced people live. 1,200 people relied on this well for clean, safe water. It had been broken for some time, and the people were growing increasingly worried. At... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE-The Lord’s Mission Primary School, Kuntorloh, Freetown The village of Kuntorloh is a large community in the hills approximately 15 minutes east of Freetown. This school is located up a very steep hill off Tenebeh Road in a predominantly Muslim community. The headmaster, teachers,... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 8th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Grafton F Line, Grafton, Freetown Grafton F Line is a Government resettlement community for refugees of the ten-year civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone. For two years, this particular pump has been broken. The people were getting water from a tap at the other end of the... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, September 7th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – The other night we ate this goat pepper soup with foo foo and doo doo (you can laugh, it’s hilarious). It was delicious, then we ate down to the goat jaw. The goat’s teeth were all brown and cavity-pocked. So my friend Tony starts gnawing on the goat cheek, but for me the... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, September 7th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Kipakeh Village, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 1.318 N, 010 40.159 W The people of Kipakeh Village relied on an open creek for water. Bath water, water for the animals, laundry water, and drinking water, all from the same place. Runoff and bacteria in the water were major health hazards... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, September 6th, 2008 by LWI Editor
LIBERIA – Forestry Development Authority (FDA) Community Site #1 GPS: 06 19.659 N, 010 40.075 W FDA Community Site #1 is located on top of a steep hill in the Mt. Barclay Township of Liberia. While the rocky terrain provides a livelihood (mining) for most of the people who live here, it simultaneously... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, September 6th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Oluremi Tinubu Public School, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 21.034 N 010 39.316 W. When we arrived at the school, we saw that the only well serving the area had dried up. Since the well was hand dug, it did not reach down to the permanent aquifer (which can sustain the well through the... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – Mount Barclay Christian School is run by saints. The principal’s name is Prince. He and 600 students drank water from a miserable swamp until last November. Of those 600 students, an average of 75 were home sick every day. Now a full 700 attend the school, none stay home... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – “Diarrhea most of all, then we have malaria, worm infestation, whooping cough, cholera, high blood pressure, asthma, maternity…but things change with the hand pump!” Nurses Derrick Woleh and Caleb Jarah led us through the Mount Barclay Community Clinic. Bamboo thatch walls,... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Old Town Tagrin, Pump One, Lungi GPS: 08 31.415 N, 013 08.729 W Lungi is just across the bay from Freetown, but getting across that bay is easier said than done. There are three ways to get to Lungi: car, ferry, and speedboat. The drive can take up to five hours, because you... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
LIBERIA – Momo Clarke is the Chief of Korma Town. He has been for 35 of his “sixty some more” years. His manner is gentle, his countenance serene, people recognize his air of calm authority as that of a chief. He led us down hills, through brush and cassava fields to the stream his... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Fendell Community Like many Liberians, the people of the Fendell Community in Northwest Liberia are picking up the pieces after years of intermittent civil war. The people are mostly either Christian or Muslim, and a majority of the village makes their living based on small-scale... [Read more]
Posted Friday, September 5th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Evangelical College of Theology, Jui, Freetown This pump is located at the Evangelical College of Theology in Jui, located on a peninsula 12 miles east of Freetown. The college was opened in 1964, after the land was leased to the missionaries from the American Wesleyan... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, September 4th, 2008 by Field Notes
Undisclosed location,* Sudan This pump had been broken for almost an entire year. One kilometer away is the only school in the area, with an estimated 1,000 students. Villages from the surrounding area (up to 6 kilometers away) send their children to this school and to this pump station. For... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Loohns Town, Mt. Barclay GPS: 06 19.498 N, 010 37.653 W This town is just settling back in the remains of what used to be their houses after being displaced by years of brutal civil war. The majority of this community is very poor, relying on small-scale farming for their livelihood.... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 1st, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Malambay Village GPS: 08 18.516 N, 013 02.536 W This well was originally installed by PLAN International in 1995. This pump is a PB Mark II. The flange in the pump housing was rusted through causing a disconnected rising main (see photo). This pump had been broken for... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 1st, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Peninsula Secondary School, Waterloo. GPS: 08 19.669 N, 013 04.270 W. For the 2,000 students who attend the Peninsula Secondary School in Waterloo, this well is the best chance for clean, safe water – and the pump has been broken for two years. The school personnel couldn’t... [Read more]
Posted Monday, September 1st, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Sorrie Fullah Well, Maserah, Matoir GPS: 08 29.090 N, 012 24.762 W. Cholera was killing this community. Literally. In 2006, five people died from cholera. In 2007, seven more. This year, one person has already died from the disease. The wells that are scattered throughout the... [Read more]
Posted Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Gbombana Village, Tonkolili District, Yoni Chiefdom. Imagine that you live in a village somewhere east of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The village is off the main road in the bush. For some time, rebels in your country made your village their home, killing members... [Read more]
Posted Friday, August 22nd, 2008 by LWI Editor
RWANDA – “Those are the people who bring us the good water!” I can hear shouts from the kids who run and jump near our truck as we drive through Nyarugugub in the Kamonye District of Kigali Province on the way to our 8th bore hole project. This area is on two ridges overlooking... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, August 21st, 2008 by Field Notes
LIBERIA – Lamine’s Town, Mt. Barclay District After being displaced by many years of ongoing civil wars, the people of Lamine’s town are resettling into what is left of their homes. While the people of this community were in refugee camps, looters ransacked the town. Everything... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Calaba Town, Across from 53A Madian Compound, Old Road GPS: 08 25.877 N, 013 09.593 W Calaba Town is a big community with a big problem: Cholera. According to the Ministry of Health, 2007’s highest levels of cholera were seen in and around this village. This particular... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – 2A Beccle Street, Wellington GPS: 08 26.917 N, 013 10.342 W The community of Wellington was suffering. They were getting their water from a filthy stream nearby. When it dried up during the dry season, they would walk for miles to find open wells or taps. Many times, the taps... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 by Field Notes
More than 1000 people depend on this well for clean, safe drinking water, and some people are traveling up to 5 kilometers one way to gather water from this pump. The pump has been broken for quite some time, so the chain had been jerry-rigged with wire in order for the pump to operate. This... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 by Field Notes
Lofa Community, Mt. Barclay, Liberia The people who call Lofa Community home settled in this place after being displaced by the long, devastating civil wars that ravaged the country. This community is comprised of several single mothers who lost their husbands during the wars. The nearest source... [Read more]
Posted Monday, August 11th, 2008 by Paul Darilek
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – We can all point back to that one special teacher, the one who taught us more than what is in the book. Maybe it was the one who ignited a love of music in your heart, or poetry, or math, or the one who taught you that you could be whatever you could dream. Maybe... [Read more]
Posted Monday, August 11th, 2008 by Field Notes
Mateinkay Village is a coastal community located in Waterloo, approximately one hour and fifteen minutes east of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. To get to it, you have to drive through the Kissitown Refugee Camp and down a long road. During the war, the village and its people suffered... [Read more]
Posted Friday, August 8th, 2008 by Field Notes
The 300 residents of Peter Tucker Town in Mt. Barclay, Liberia, have lived off of creek water for years. The people of this town are farmers who grow cassava and various other fruits. Illness is widespread due to the seasonal threats and neighboring villagers who also use the creek to bathe... [Read more]
Posted Friday, August 8th, 2008 by Field Notes
Undisclosed location,* Sudan For more than 10 months, this pump was unable to provide clean drinking water for the 1500 people in the surrounding areas. Another hand pump 300 meters away was also broken. Bent connecting rods, broken threads and chain connections, holes in the riser pipes –... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, August 7th, 2008 by Field Notes
Worlakor Town, Liberia. The 500 residents of this town used to collect their drinking water from a nearby creek. During the dry season, the water becomes stagnant and polluted, posing a serious health hazard to the people of Worlakor Town. When we finished the well, the town leaders expressed... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 by Kate Phillips
UGANDA – Two dollars and thirty minutes stood between the people of Koro Abili and clean water. That’s what it would have cost in US dollars and labor to replace the broken chain on their hand pump. My stomach knotted as Leo—a resident of Koro Abili—explained what had happened.... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 by Field Notes
This is the water they used to drink in one part of Kuntorloh, a large community located in the hills east of the capital of Sierra Leone. It is a community that has a few taps distributing water from the dam located high in the hills, but is predominantly served by open hand-dug wells, where... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 by Field Notes
The Kissitown United Nation High Community Commission for Refugees Camp located in Waterloo, Sierra Leone, is a very large camp where approximately 60 thousand Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees have made their homes. Many of the refugees have lived here for years, first fleeing from the... [Read more]
Posted Friday, July 25th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE-Approved School, Kuntorloh This is the oldest well in Kuntorloh. The pump was being held together with super glue on a broken sucker rod. The chain had been welded. The handle was about to break. The well was dry and full of debris. Kuntorloh is a town 15 minutes east of Freetown,... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, July 20th, 2008 by Field Notes
SIERRA LEONE – Number 7 Konde Farm, Kamayama, Freetown GPS: 08 26.584 N, 013 15.114 W A group of missionaries from the United States came to Kamayama to drill a well and, one day, to build a health clinic for the community near the school and the church. When they arrived, they had just enough... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, July 10th, 2008 by LWI Editor
In January 2007, I moved with my husband and two young children (6 months and 3 years) to Angola, Africa. My husband had just been given a 3-year assignment with ExxonMobil in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Shortly after moving to Luanda, I began volunteering for a local orphanage called... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, June 29th, 2008 by Stan Patyrak
Yams Farm, Sierra Leone. We’re back. And it’s raining (again). If you missed the update from yesterday, check it out here. You will need a little context to understand what is happening. Abass Kamara, the chairman for this community, meets me as LWI-Sierra Leone’s well rehabilitation... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, June 26th, 2008 by Stan Patyrak
“In the dry season people sleep here so they can get water” - Abass Kamara, chairman of Yams Farm It’s raining today. The rainy season is in full swing in Sierra Leone. I was just told that I am standing where the women and children of Yams Farm sleep during the dry season.... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 by Stan Patyrak
SIERRA LEONE – Calaba Town Health Clinic. I’m spending a little time with Dr. Charles Kimbe, community health officer for Calaba Town. The Calaba Health Clinic has been in operation since August of 2007, and serves all 64,817 of Calaba Town’s residents. Dr. Kimbe knows... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 by Stan Patyrak
Lumley, Sierra Leone. If you are reading this then you have heard; And, most likely from us. 1.1 billion people don’t have clean water. That’s one in six of us on this planet. It’s easy to look at those numbers and see an opportunity to improve someone’s life. To take... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 by LWI Editor
Holy ground, Sierra Leone. It’s perhaps one of the most overwhelming things I have ever seen. It will test your tendency to separate spiritual things from material things, the tendency to separate LWI into two – the humanitarian work side and the spiritual side. It will be a slap... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 by Stan Patyrak
Old Town Tagrin (outside of Freetown), Sierra Leone. I am standing in what is perhaps the oldest settlement on this section of the peninsula across from Freetown. There are easily over 1500 people here, and given the community’s proximity to the ocean (it’s actually right on the... [Read more]
Posted Friday, May 30th, 2008 by Ksnow
Early in 2008, I asked God to send me somewhere I had not been before. Little did I know that I was going to land in Rwanda. God is full of surprises, and he did not hold back when it came to this trip. I think God must smile to himself sometimes as he watches us make plans that will never... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 by LWI Editor
Houston, Texas (LWIN) May 2008 – Could your church make a dent in the global water crisis? With the right relationships and resources, the answer is—yes! In 2003, Gabe and Rebekah Lyons founded the Fermi Project, and began to gather innovators, social entrepreneurs, church and societal... [Read more]
Posted Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 by LWI Editor
KENYA – President Mwai Kibaki has finally brought about an end to months of political stalemate. Opposition leader Raila Odinga is the head of a new 40-member cabinet, as part of a power-sharing agreement between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The... [Read more]
Posted Monday, March 31st, 2008 by Jonathan Wiles
LIBERIA - “This is where we would get our drinking water, for the past 20 years, you see,” says Chief Varney, indicating a muddy swamp hole nearby. “We have been suffering a very long time, for safe drinking water to come in this community.” Varney is the chief elder... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, February 28th, 2008 by LWI Editor
RWANDA (MNN) ― Rwanda’s president is taking a hard look at the progress made on his country’s development roadmap over the last year. President Paul Kagame says a lot has been done since the civil war, but he wants to accelerate Rwanda’s economic growth and socio-economic... [Read more]
Posted Friday, February 8th, 2008 by LWI Editor
Ghana (MNN) ― Damage assessments show that last fall’s flooding in northern Ghana affected more people than in all other West African countries combined, yet the disaster provided a fertile ground this year for a harvest… but it’s not what you might think. Living Water... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 by LWI Editor
KENYA (MNN) ― The United Nation’s chief is trying to bring an end to the bloody violence plaguing Kenya over disputed elections. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged negotiators for the two sides to work toward ending the political stalemate. President Mwai Kibaki is attending an African... [Read more]
Posted Sunday, January 27th, 2008 by LWI Editor
Since 2007, Living Water International has been working to provide sustainable water solutions in Zambia. 42 percent of Zambia’s population does not have access to clean water, creating serious health risks, lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and higher rates of preventable disease... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, January 24th, 2008 by LWI Editor
Living Water International’s operations in Kenya have come to a standstill as violent demonstrations continue and supply prices skyrocket. Kenya, once a pillar of stability in Africa, has been embroiled in a steady stream of protests, looting and ethnic violence since its disputed presidential... [Read more]
Posted Friday, October 5th, 2007 by LWI Editor
Since July, heavy rains have deluged Africa. More than a million people have been affected and displaced by some of the worst flooding the continent has seen in a decade. A potential food security crisis looms. Crops and livestock have been destroyed at a time of year when food reserves are... [Read more]
Posted Thursday, September 20th, 2007 by LWI Editor
UGANDA (MNN) ― In Northern Uganda, most IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps are desperate for clean water… or any water at all. Living Water International recently repaired five hand pumps and drilled three new wells in IDP camps in the Gulu region. In one area 7,000 people were... [Read more]
Posted Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 by LWI Editor
SUDAN (MNN) ― Southern Sudan has been plagued with difficulties. Civil war and food shortages have left the Sudanese desperate. However, Living Water International is just one organization that’s taking a risk and helping this beleaguered area of Africa. LWI’s Brad Saltzman... [Read more]
US Teams Haiti
iPad Giveaway
Page CXVI
Haiti - Right Now
The Story of the Thirsty
OSU Wells Project
Mike Mantel at Calvin College
Tommy's Story
Haitians Rejoice
Helping Haiti Webisode 14: Thank You!
Helping Haiti Webisode 13: Drinking Water
Helping Haiti Webisode 12: Well 6
Helping Haiti Webisode 11: Well 5
Helping Haiti Webisode 10: Soccer
Wells Project Redux
Helping Haiti Webisode 9: Woman with Polio
Helping Haiti Webisode 8: Well 4
Helping Haiti Webisode 7: Well 3
Helping Haiti Webisode 6: Well 2
Helping Haiti Webisode 5: Port-au-Prince Testimonies
