Building Wells That Last

MECHA BORODO, Ethiopia

26 February 2010

It is four o’clock in the afternoon, and Geeane Melka, a local woman from Mecha Borodo, just arrived at the village’s new water station for the second time today. Down the road, 20 more people carry their jerry cans to be filled with water.
For Geeane and others, the water station, which is open to the public from 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning and again from 4:00 to 6:00 in the evening, makes water more easily accessible. Before it was built, water could be obtained only from a stream or by collecting rain water.

Latter-day Saint Charities has met the needs of the people in Mecha Borodo by providing funding for four water stations—covering the costs of both the wells and the construction.

Local people primarily constructed the wells. Men from the village dug and backfilled the trenches. Water from the nearby springs was captured and piped to a very large storage tank that was constructed near the springs. Then a local contractor installed the system as it was designed. The finished system has been so efficient that there are plans to increase the number of pipelines in an effort to serve a larger area.

The system affords local facilities, such as the clinic, access to water. Plans are being made for the monastery, school, and several houses in Mecha Borodo to also hook up to the water system. The water connection will consist of a T-meter and a pipeline to the building that will allow the water to be accessed by a faucet.

Villagers not only built the wells but also maintain them. Local officials organized committees and Latter-day Saint Charities trained local people to oversee this maintenance. Without the training, the pumps would be broken within a few years. But if the villagers follow the maintenance instructions, the pumps should last over 10 years—providing clean water for the next generation.