Where there is no well...

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.

Kinsho Mada

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.

Walking across the valley of Kinsho Mada

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!

Possible location of a future well!