One of the ideas that Peace Corps stresses during training is to let the community tell you what it’s needs are. Vohemar, through Sister Rosalie, told me it needed water.
Clean, safe, water, or the lack thereof, is a problem in Vohemar. Most homes do not have running water. The people living here have to get their water from public taps, which often go dry. There are not enough on the main road, and none the farther you get from the center of town. There is often a long wait at these taps as well, with buckets pilling up as people wait for water. As a result, people do not have enough water and will sometimes fetch it from dirty, dangerous sources.
I had been volunteering at a dispensary run by Sister Rosalie. A Malagasy nun from my region who had travelled to the US and Canada before returning to her region to attend to the needs of her people.
This woman is amazing, she has a handle on every health, environment and education challenge the people in this region face. From not enough water in a major town to a single child’s health problems in a small village, she knows it all.
She pulled me aside one day and informed me that the thing Vohemar needed that I could provide would be wells. She worked out a budget, obtaining quotes from local vendors and I put in the proposal to Peace Corps partnership.
A few weeks after being put on the website it was funded, thanks to my amazing friends and family back home.
After I received the funds, I transferred the money to Sister Rosalie’s account and the work began.
It took a few months longer than anticipated, which means things went very fast by Madagascar standards :).
There were a few snafu’s, for a while there were two “Peace Corps / USA / No. 3” wells, but that was quickly cleared up.
I had missed the inauguration of Wells 1 and 3 and ended up just travelling to them to take photos once I returned, but I made sure to be in town for 2 and 4.
I didn’t know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the Mayor in attendance. Malagasy ceremonies tend to be looooooooooooooooooooong. I expected to be at each well for several hours while everyone thanked everyone. The event at each well was long, but the ceremony part of it was very brief. The Mayor thanked both me and Sister Rosalie for our help in the community. He said the wells would be Vohemar’s “souvenirs” of my stay here when I returned to the United States. I gave the key to the well to a key community member and that was the ceremony.
Then the mayor gave a long talk on the importance of proper maintenance and clean drinking water. He stressed that the well was the responsibility of those living around it. He encouraged them to keep it clean to keep the area free of grass and debris, explaining that this could attract cows and other animals which would defecate and potentially dirty the water source. He explained the importance of closing the well when it was not in use and of locking it at night to ensure that nothing found its way in there. He explained that dirty water could lead to cholera, dysentery or any number of diseases which require expensive medication to cure, so it was better to take preventative measures.
He then proceeded to set a date the following week to work out a schedule and budget that was to be filed with the Mayor’s office. The people living near the wells would be responsible for buying replacement buckets and ropes and maintaining the area around the wells. He wanted to have a community meeting where everyone could come and work out a schedule for maintenance and payment, which would be filed with the mayor’s office and which would be available to anyone who wanted to access it. He’s pretty much awesome :)
I feel very very lucky. Not only do I have awesome people back in the United States, but I have a great community here as well.
Thank You to the following people for their donation: Watercharity.org, Anne-Marie, Chris, Elizabeth and Rhett, Ellen, Erin, Isadora, Jason, Leonor, Maddy & Paul, Nancy & John, Sarah, Shirley, Tara, and to those who donated anonymously. You have helped to make a difference in these people’s lives.
If you would like to donate to more water projects, please be sure to check out watercharity.org. This awesome organization works with Peace Corps volunteers to bring clean drinking water to people worldwide.
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