Sawadogo Talato is the Vice President of Yaké village’s water committee. She used to collect water from a pond outside the village. In the dry season, this would dry up and she would have to walk to a traditional well three miles away, twice a day. Both water sources were dangerous to drink, and as the traditional well was dug in sandy soil, it was also liable to collapse.

The people of Yaké had tried to dig a well here many years before. The men spent two years digging down 25 yards, 23 of them through granite! They dug by hand but found no water. So, they decided to approach WaterAid and its partner organization Eau Solidarité, which came to Yaké with some hydraulic surveying equipment to help them find where the water was.

The villagers of Yaké used the skill and knowledge of local well-diggers to construct a hand-dug well. They lined it with concrete to prevent pollution and protect it from collapsing in the wet season. Now everyone, the young, the elderly and even the Community’s animals benefit.

Sawadago explained how the new well had transformed life in the village: “Before we had the pump in the village, it was a luxury even to have water to quench our thirst. A lack of water can lead to conflict among people. But since the pump has been installed the communities are much happier. Before, the children had to go to get water in the morning, which kept them from school. When the pond dried up, even the little ones walked three miles and back again two times a day to get water. All the children go to school now.

“The children used to suffer. They used to often get diarrhea when we were using the water from the pond. That has changed now. Everything has changed.”

“The women are able to get on with lots of other activities, many of which bring us money. Some of us make bean fritters to sell. This means we can look after our children better, we give them better food, or buy them things like shoes, which we couldn’t do before.”