With due respect, we the entire community of Dafa Pada appreciate the effort of Lifewater Canada for providing a water well in our environment. We promise to take good care of it. May God give you more wisdom.

• Bala A. Amusa, Community Leader

Dafa is in Kwali Area Council, about an hour’s drive from the city center, with a population of more 7,000 people, most of whom are subsistence farmers.

Dafa’s infrastructure has not kept up with the community’s increasing population. When Lifewater arrived, the existing hand pumps on wells were grossly inadequate and mostly broken due to over-use. Residents had to wait 2-3 hours and take turns to fetch water from the local wells.

Alternatively, they would walk about 30 minutes to the nearest river. Families, depending on their size, would make 5-10 trips daily to meet their water needs. This means families were spending 3-6 hours every day on the road to fetch water. And when the trips happened after dark, women and girls were at risk of violence, rape, or even death to meet their families’ water needs.

Also, the river water isn’t safe, said Haruna Salifu, a resident of the community, and so there have been cholera-associated deaths in the community.

Our donors enabled Lifewater to drill five new wells (including this one, to a depth of 230 feet, that is serving 470 children and adults) in Dafa. We also rehabilitated eight existing wells so safe water is flowing from them again. The community’s health has improved and people are better able to remain economically productive to care for their families.