U'golo Water Project
by Cyprian Obasi, Christ Church member
The purpose of the U'golo Water Project is to provide clean and safe water for the community within a reasonable walking distance of my village, Umugolo, in Nigeria. With that, women and children will not have to travel 7 to 8 miles to haul water from another town, and they will not have to depend on water collected in craters after rainfall. By providing clean water, people will have safe water to wash and will also have enough to drink without the risk of water-borne illnesses. By cutting down the distance that people travel to carry water, people will be diverted to other productive tasks such as earning a living or obtaining an education.
In 2003, when I traveled back to Nigeria, the women of my village approached me and asked me to drill a water borehole. Because I didn't have the money to help at the time, I didn't follow up with their request. When the leader of the group came to the United States to visit, she tried to contact me but I avoided her the whole time. I was ashamed because this is the same behavior that the other men of the village were portraying. All these years, we the men have avoided the responsibility to our women and children.
In 2004, the women raised money to drill the borehole on public land allocated to them by the local government. Their idea was to start the project, hoping that the men would get involved. Sadly, the men of Umugolo didn't step up before the politicians took over the project. From there, the project became a game of politics and eventually died. The women were able to recover the money they put into it. With their money and the money I raised at Christ Episcopal Church, we were able to purchase a piece of land.
On the piece of land, a borehole will be drilled and the water processing center will be built. The Rotary Club in Woodbury and Minnesota have been working with me on this project.
We hope to complete this project and benefit about 2,000 people. Children who wake up at 5 a.m. just to walk 7 or 8 miles to get water before school starts will be able to get more rest and be able to concentrate more on their studies. Their parents, especially the mothers who spend hours each day getting water, will have more time to do productive tasks, such as earning money that the family needs.
