There’s a pretty popular book out here called “Where
There is No Doctor”. It’s a
comprehensive field guide to any injury, infection, or malady that you could
possibly come across. From boils to
amputations to emergency c-sections…you name it and you’ll find directions on
how to treat these issues in the case you’re in an area without a doctor or
knowledgeable health professional. As
you flip through the pages of the book (illustrations included) you realize
that even with comprehensive instructions there truly is no replacement for a
real skilled doctor...in case you had any doubt before! I was thinking last
night and imagining if someone wrote a book with the same premise called “Where
There is No Well”. What to do in
instances and areas where there was no clean water source and you needed it. I realized, it’d be a pretty quick read! You can treat water in many different ways in
order to make it potable and safe, but in the absence of clean water their
truly is no replacement.
While in Finchawe last week we visited many rural
villages as we surveyed for future well sites.
We visited places where there are no wells or clean water sources. One of these villages is called Kinsho Mada. I’ve never before visited a place so remote
and untouched by western culture or development. Now don’t get me wrong, the 8-year old
shepherd boy wearing an 80’s multi-colored neon onesy zip-up track suit (how on
earth did that get here!) was evidence enough that the western world had crept
in to this remote place. However, in
general terms we’re talking no roads, no electricity, and definitely no running
water.
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| Kinsho Mada |
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| Taking GPS Coordinates |
We had driven the Land Cruiser as far as we could into
this area, and then had hiked about half a mile down into this wide valley that
is Kinsho Mada. It was beautiful and
peaceful and quiet. So quiet you could
hear the sound of the nearby cattle chomping on the grass, and the crunch of
the dirt beneath our shoes. Within a few
minutes an old “Abu” (grandfather) approached us and our team began talking
with him. Turns out that in this village
there are about 2,000 households, resulting in what we estimate to be at least
12,000 people living in the area. We
walked about a mile across the valley and up one of the hills to examine the
village’s current water source. The
village uses a traditional water source, a pond that collects rain and flood
water, for both their cattle and household use.
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| Walking across the valley of Kinsho Mada |
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| Traditional village water source |
As you can imagine, this water source has many
problems. This is currently the rainy
season in Finchawe so the pond is full.
However, during the dry season this would be an unreliable and
potentially failing water source. The
other major problem with this water source is that it is unprotected against
contamination from surface run off, animals, and human waste. Kinsho Mada was a huge contrast for me from
the villages that we visited with completed wells. Where there were completed wells community
members were gathered together, working hard, and rejoicing over the clean water
they had access to! In Kinsho Mada there
was no communal gathering place or sense of celebration that I had sensed in
the other communities.
If you’re reading this blog than obviously you care about
water issues, or are passionate about God’s work in Ethiopia, or care about
me, or all of the above! I wanted to describe this community
to you to paint the picture of the effect that introducing a clean water source
into a community can truly have. It’s
about more than health and quality of life.
Those things are vitally important on their own, but it’s also about
transforming entire communities and displaying the hope and life that can be
found in Jesus Christ. What excites me
so much is that Kinsho Mada is on the verge of this transformation!
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| Possible location of a future well! |
