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At the request of ALARM, Water is Basic through a generous gift from the students and faculty of Flower Mound High School recently contracted to have two deep wells drilled in Southwestern Sudan. One well has been completed in the Bong village and at time of the writing of this article the crew is in route to the Kuelek village to drill the second.
There will be 10 villages, each with 600 people, whom will use the water well in the Bong village because the surrounding villages do not have water.
Here is a report from Rev. James Baak on the impact of the new well in Bong:
Before these new wells, life in Bong and Kuelek villages was very difficult. Every year from January to April families had to separate because of a lack of water... even unclean water is rare. A few villagers would remain in the homesteads to drink from scarce muddy water in pools and the rest would move with livestock to the River Jur (45 kms away) in search for water. The members of the families that move to the River come back only in May every year after rain water has fallen down and families can reunite. The immediate impact of the well in Bong Village is that some families have returned to the village with their goats and sheep after hearing of good news of water in the village and reunite with their families in the month of March for the first time in years!
The joy of the gift of water was very visible from the villagers. Here are what some of Bong villagers said:
"For the first time we have received tangible fruits of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in having clean water." - Gabriel Akarap Bol, village elder
"This is the second most precious gift we have received, the first being the Gospel." - Rev. Peter Gum, the village pastor
"We thank ALARM for rescuing us and our children and animals from thirsl and water borne diseases. Our children will no longer die of simple diseases and there will be no separation of families because of water anymore." - Rechael Athieng