WER is drilling deep for safe water... and a safer future for Sudanese children
Amy Whiddett
Website: http://www.wer-uk.org
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
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Less time spent walking miles to fetch water means that children can spend more time at school.
WER
WER
WER is this week shipping a state-of-the-art drilling rig to Southern Sudan to bring life-saving safe water sources to some of the poorest communities in Africa.
The rig left the USA for Sudan on 21 June 2007 and will be used to drill wells in remote villages in which access to safe and clean water is currently lacking.
The rig can drill to a depth of 150 metres and will enable WER's local partner in Sudan, All Nations Christian Care (ANCC), to drill for water in villages where the water table was previously inaccessible because of the depth required to reach it.
These wells will bring safe and clean water to hundreds of thousands of people who are currently living in desperate poverty.
The difference that access to clean water can make to the lives of people cannot be under estimated. With a well nearby, children no longer have to walk for miles or queue for long periods of time in order to fetch water for their family's needs.
For these children, less time spent doing household chores means more time at school, and the greater chance of building a path out of poverty.
Access to safe water is also essential for ensuring the health of people within these communities. In 2006, hundreds of people within the Ikotos region of southern Sudan were killed when a cholera outbreak swept through the region. WER was quick to respond with the provision of medicines and emergency funds which saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
By ensuring that people have adequate access to safe water sources, we can help keep fatal illnesses, such as cholera, far from their communities.
WER has been working in close partnership with local aid agency ANCC since 2002 to respond to the needs of communities in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, a region affected by conditions of extreme poverty which have been exacerbated by years of violence and insecurity in the region. WER is one of the few agencies still actively working in the region, and is committed to ensuring essential aid reaches communities which are often overlooked by the international community.
For more information on WER's work in Uganda and Sudan, or to make a donation, please visit www.wer-uk.org or call us today on 0870 429 2129.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
