What a difference a week makes…
Three weeks in to The Big Dig and off the back of an amazing start things in Bokola took a turn for the worse.
Our hearts went out to Winard and his parents when we heard on 5th July the all too familiar news that he, at just eight months old had been taken sick with diarrheoa, resulting in dehydration. It’s a story that we hear all too often from villages like Bokola, and when the only place that can treat children this sick is over an hour drive away, the outcome is frequently devastating.
Luckily for Winard, he reached the hospital in time and responded well to treatment as we heard in an update on the 6th.
But Winard’s news was not the only disappointment this week.
Despite good progress, the lack of water in Bokola grounded work on latrines to a halt. Just think. Not enough water to build latrines is one thing. But the same water source that is now completely dry, is the source for all water in Bokola – drinking, cooking, bathing. It’s just July, and water won’t come to this village till September, the earliest the boreholes can be drilled. There’s two more long months to go.
Ofcourse, we know the people of Bokola and Kaniche won’t give up – they can’t.
On the 4th we watched the results of a truly inspiring visit to neighbouring communities, where members of Bokola and Kaniche, including Mary and Mr. Khombe, learned about the true benefits of composting toilets – fertiliser that can be used to grow more food! Not only that, but they got the chance to share experiences with fellow villagers who have been through their pain and come out the other side.
It’s been a week of progress and peril, a week where we’ve seen the shocking consequences of living without access to clean water – a baby, at serious risk from something as easily preventable as diarrheoa. How can this be so in 2012? Yet, we’ve seen the determination of people across the communities to make progress, to learn from others, to do everything in their power to transform their lives. And we saw the commitment and generosity of people like you break new ground as The Big Dig totaliser smashed through the £600k mark!
Thank you for giving, for sharing, for caring, from the bottom of my heart – it means the world to me, and so many others. Please keep it up.
Stick with us into week four to see what it brings.
Angharad
