Hope Filled Futures
Ntseimbang (loosely translated as walk down hill with stick) was home to a small dirty spring that served as the only water source for 2 villages (those down the hill and those up the hill.....more like mountains). People had to walk for quite a ways away just to stand in line and wait for the water to settle enough to fill their containers with dirty water for drinking, cooking, cleaning etc... In May of 2014 Tim (Born) and a well drilling company went hoping to drill a hand bore hole well. They left so disappointed as the area was too rocky to drill with the hand bore hole equipment. It was decided that the well would need to be done by hand. Since the piping etc... is different than the hand bore hole wells what was purchased wouldn't work for this project. Now $1000 would need to be raised to do a well by hand. Monies were given and HFF (via the Born's) won a grant towards this well and one other. Praise the Lord, in March of 2015 we were ready to move forward and provide clean drinking water for these 2 villages. It took 2 weeks of breaking rock with breaker bars to get down deep enough and 2 more weeks for the cement to harden enough to use, but finally the long wait was over and we had our official unveiling ceremony for Ntseimbang's new well! Villagers traveled from far (some barefooted) to celebrate this gift of life giving water. We are so grateful to all who made this well possible!
Very remote
Very bad drinking water
Loaded up the equipment to drill the well
Clearing the area
Villagers celebrating a new well
Hand bore hole well drilling
Back 2nd time to dig the well by hand
Using breaker bars on the rock
Almost done
Back for the opening of well for use...some villagers traveled barefooted
Women preparing the feast
Official unveiling!
1st water from the new well
Village official tasting water
Children getting their first lesson: wash your hands
Woman photographed drinking from dirty spring gets her 1st drink from the well
thanking us with gifts