A 'gift of life and health'

DIDSBURY - A village in Africa with 2,000 people now has easy water access thanks to the fundraising efforts of a number of Didsburians.

Project Roret was started in 2012 by local resident Cathy Jackson and other volunteers from Chinook Winds Christian Centre (which later became Venue Church) as a way to raise money to bring a well to the town of Roret on the outskirts of Nakura, Kenya.

"The town had around 5,000 people living there and had no access to clean drinking water," said Jackson. "The nearest water source was a five-kilometre walk to a dirty river."

The group ran fashion show fundraisers for three straight Novembers (2012, 2013 and 2014) in conjunction with Fashions on Main. They also had a couple of community garage sales and a fall fair fundraiser in 2012.

Jackson said a portion of the proceeds were used to purchase and install a large cistern, which the townspeople could use temporarily until a well was built.

"After three years we had enough funds to drill the well and began to proceed to make the necessary drilling company contacts and started the permitting process," she said.

Unfortunately, the group ran into corruption in the village and with government officials in Nakura, she said.

"As they had the power to delay or deny these permits, it became apparent that the project would not go forward as we had planned," she said. "Our hearts were broken after developing relationships with the villagers over many years."

Jackson said that when it became apparent they couldn't help Roret they decided to find another community.

"We ended up partnering with Compassion Canada, a Canadian charity that is active in Africa and around the world," she said. "They had a village they were working with in Uganda called Obore, which is in Eastern Uganda between Kampala (capital of Uganda) and Nairobi, Kenya.

"There are 2,000 people in this community and they lived in very similar circumstances as the villagers in Roret. Villagers had to spend hours hiking to find water and most sources were contaminated. The funds we raised for Roret were used to construct a borehole for their well."

In addition, a harvesting system was installed to collect and store water for future use, she said.

"Other donors gave funds to construct new sanitary latrines and villagers were taught proper sanitation and hygiene habits," she said. "Through our partnership with Compassion Canada we were able to fulfill our dream of bringing water to an impoverished village.

"Water is truly the gift of life and health. To everyone who participated with our fundraising and so generously donated, we thank you!"

Anyone interested in a project completion report (with photo of the well) from Compassion Canada can email Jackson at [email protected].