Last week we brought you the story of Mazegbo, a mother who used to trek up to five hours a day to fetch her family’s drinking and cooking water from a muddy river bank.
Today, Mazegbo has safe, clean water within steps from her home and it has made a world of difference for her and her family – they are healthier, happier, and more prosperous because of this gift of clean water.
But the story doesn’t really end there.
Before HOPE International Development Agency’s support, Mazegbo and her neighbours, all of whom are cattle herders, lived a semi-nomadic life. During the dry season they moved from place to place in search of water and nutrient-rich grasses to sustain their animals. When the little water and grasses they could find were depleted, they moved on. Unfortunately for Mazegbo and the other families, every dry season a large number of cows – their most valuable asset – died from dehydration. The death of a cow was always a heartbreaking loss to these families, both emotionally and financially.
Since the clean water began flowing from the new water system in Koshale, families are healthier and so are their livelihoods. Their cows and other animals are thriving and families have been able to settle in the village.
“No more cattle death! At any moment when the family needs money we just exchange with goats. I have no words to talk how my family and the entire community is satisfied with the support of HOPE International Development Agency’s good work,” says Mazegbo.
One water system, from a single, protected water spring, now supplies clean water to the entire village of Koshale. For the first time in their lives, Mazegbo and the other cattle herders of the area have established roots in one place. They no longer have to fear the oncoming dry season and what sorrow it will bring. Because of clean water, easily accessible in their village, their children have a home and a community to grow up in.
Clean water, especially in Koshale, Ethiopia, truly is life. Along with the gift of water flow changes that are much greater and deeper than the eye can see. It nourishes people, it sustains communities, and it revitalizes landscapes.
Stayed tuned for next week’s post as we continue to explore all the spectacular changes happening in Koshale and we see how Mazegbo and the other villagers are using clean water to transform their lives.
