Area Pump Minders are volunteers who are trained to repair boreholes in their communities. In 2022, we collaborated with the local government to fund William’s training in borehole maintenance. Today, we’re proud to employ many of the Area Pump Minders we’ve previously trained to assess the dysfunctional water points, source materials and carry out the repairs. After several weeks of work on the Chisamba borehole, William had the hand pump working and water flowing freely again.

The effects of a broken hand pump can be devastating to the local community. In Chisamba, teenaged girls had to walk long distances to fetch water for their families, missing school and facing risks of gender-based violence along the way. Without clean water, the community was vulnerable to infectious diseases like cholera and trachoma – an eye infection that can cause blindness if left untreated.

For one local grandmother, seeing the water flow has brought a renewed sense of hope for her grandchildren, who had been walking up to three kilometres each day to fetch water.

The work we do goes far beyond just creating access to safe, clean water. The borehole becomes a focal point for community interaction and allows people raise extra income by growing vegetables and selling the produce – strengthening both livelihoods and resilience within the community.

Story written with files from Program Manager Tony Kazembe.

Learn more about the ripple effects of clean water by watching our video about boreholes in Zambia’s Sinazongwe District.

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For Natasha, it’s brought the ability to attend school full time. Previously, she had to walk several kilometres each day to fetch water for her family. This took so much extra time and energy that she began missing school.

Together, we rehabilitated Kwanga’s borehole in 2021. It’s one of 96 non-functioning boreholes that we have rehabilitated in the past three years, in addition to the 106 that we have drilled in the Sinazongwe district, in Zambia’s arid south.

This has helped eliminate blinding trachoma infections from the district. Locally-available water has also brought a host of benefits across communities like Natasha’s, including improved health outcomes, thriving local economies and improved opportunities for women and girls.

“Access to fresh water prevents the spread of trachoma and other infections and also brings many benefits to the local community,” explains Vikas Gora, our Global Director of International Programs.

Now that the borehole in her village is functioning again, Natasha and several other girls in her class no longer have to haul water for long distances, and they are back attending school full time.

Access to clean water doesn’t just help reduce the spread of infection — it brings long-lasting and sustainable change to the entire community.

Thanks to our donors and partnerships with local Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) committees that are trained to maintain boreholes and ensure their longevity, we’re creating a ripple effect that is being felt in other communities across Zambia.

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Clean Water and Avoidable Blindness

Access to clean water is an important part of ending serious eye infections like trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. Trachoma causes the eyelid to turn inward so that the eyelashes rub the eyeball. This results in intense pain, scarring of the cornea and ultimately, irreversible blindness. Although trachoma can be treated with medicine and, in more severe cases, surgery, the most effective way of reducing rates of this painful infection is to address one of the root causes, which is lack of adequate sanitation. With access to clean water, people can wash their hands, faces, clothing and homes and prevent the spread of trachoma. This improved sanitation also aids in the reduction of other serious illnesses such as diarrheal disease, upper-respiratory infections and other communicable diseases like COVID-19.

Drilling and Rehabilitating Boreholes

Operation Eyesight follows the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy for eliminating trachoma in areas of Kenya and Zambia. SAFE is a comprehensive treatment and prevention program that includes:

• Surgery to treat trichiasis (the painful late stage of the disease)
• Antibiotics to eliminate infection
• Face washing and hygiene education
• Environmental improvement including wells and latrines

Properly implemented, the SAFE strategy permanently eliminates trachoma. One of the key factors for achieving this is drilling or rehabilitating boreholes. In recent years, we’ve shifted our focus from drilling new boreholes to rehabilitating existing, dysfunctional boreholes. The cost-savings employed by this method allow us to reach many more communities.

When a borehole is drilled or rehabilitated, we establish local Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) committees. These committees are trained on how to maintain the borehole and ensure its longevity. Properly maintained boreholes can provide clean water for decades. The WASH committees also provide community health education sessions to help people improve their sanitation habits. They incorporate messages on facial cleanliness and environmental improvements such as the proper building of latrines. 

The Ripple Effect of Clean Water

Clean water does so much more than prevent blindness. Families are able to grow more nutritious food and easily water their livestock when water is easily accessible. This leads to a reduced prevalence of illnesses resulting from poor nutrition. It also gives women and girls more opportunities. The task of hauling fresh water for long distances most commonly falls to women and girls. Depending on the area, the journey can also be dangerous, and the water from unprotected sources may not be safe. When clean water is easily accessible, women and girls have time to go to school, earn a living independently, and be actively involved in their families and communities.

Communities with a clean water source also become hubs of local trade and provide increased economic opportunities. New schools are often built near boreholes because of their central location and easy access to water. Existing schools are expanded on to accommodate for the increase in attendance resulting from more girls being able to participate in school now that they don’t have to walk far distances to fetch water. Read this story about how a borehole increased the attendance at Mweela School by 274 students.

This World Water Day, you can help bring the positive ripple effects of clean water to a community in need. Please donate today.

The post The value of clean water – World Water Day 2021 appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

The reason? Simple. Water.

In 2008, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole near the Mweela School. This meant that women and girls didn’t have to walk as far for water. Mothers could now walk their daughters to school on their way to get water, instead of needing their daughters to miss school to get water with them.

Marriam Matimba, the school’s headteacher, says that the school is well-known in the area for its sanitation opportunities. “A school with adequate access to clean water and sanitary facilities is a girl-friendly school,” Marriam explains.

When communities don’t have access to clean water and sanitary facilities, women and girls bear the brunt of the opportunity cost. When girls have to fetch water or are unable to attend school because of a lack of sanitary products and facilities, they miss out on valuable educational and social opportunities.

What do boreholes have to do with preventing avoidable blindness? More than you might think. We drill boreholes in communities where trachoma is endemic. Trachoma is a bacterial disease that leads to irreversible blindness when it’s not treated, and a lack of fresh water and adequate hygiene is one factor that contributes to the spread of trachoma. Due to factors such as gendered household duties such as cleaning and caregiving, women are much more susceptible to contracting trachoma than their male counterparts.

A new borehole in a community doesn’t just provide access to fresh water. It helps build resilient communities, prevents illness and can even increase the  enrollment of girls in schools. Boreholes help give girls like Blessings a strong start so that she has opportunities for her future.

You can help bring clean water to a community and educational opportunities to girls who are often left behind. Please donate today.

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