Drilling a well is a significant and costly undertaking requiring highly specialized skill and equipment, but the impact on a community can be profoundly life-changing. This single intervention can be enough to move families from chronic illness and hunger to health and productivity. A local well also means women spend less time walking for water and have more time and energy for farming, working and caring for their families.
In this video, the residents of Keppure village danced with joy as their well was being drilled. This well now supplies their families with water for drinking, cooking, bathing and farming.
Bopoma Villages is helping communities rewrite the tragic history of wells across Africa. Billions of dollars have been spent drilling wells that were soon broken and abandoned. Organizations stayed long enough to drill the wells but moved on before communities were equipped to properly operate, maintain and repair them.
Prior to installing a well, communities were trained on the proper use and maintenance of their well and the manual pump used to draw the water. Communities were also trained in a savings and loan system known as table banking to help them develop a fund to maintain and repair their well.