Water is life, and no one can survive without it. Sakiya and Goriya, are an elderly couple living in a village in Nassarawa, Nigeria. They had enough to eat, but no access to clean water and health care. They had endured enough hardship to last them a lifetime, as their rocky village, Bakin Riga was very isolated. The village is over an hour’s hike on foot, through bush paths to the nearest town, Andaha. Andaha was the nearest source of clean water.
Their community was made up of simple farmers who had enough food for themselves and their families. For as long as they could remember, they had experienced severe tummy aches due to the contaminated water they were consuming. The source was a stagnant pond which they shared with other domestic and wild animals. Sometimes the pain was so severe that they could not get out of their beds. They wondered if they were going to die. They were so helpless that they had come to accept it as normal.
Sakiya had to climb up a hill to fetch from the stagnant pond. At the age of 80, she had to go to the pond by herself. She had no other choice; her children had left home to start their own families. However, as she grew older, it got more and more difficult for her to make the tortuous journey uphill. She needed to cook for her family. She also had to feed her livestock of pigs and goats or else they’d die. They were the only source of livelihood for her family.
Her family was not the only one facing this untold hardship. Other villagers like Halima, a mother of two, narrated how she had also lost two of her four children to cholera because of the bad water. A community leader, Mallam Adamu, told the CBN team that he had lost eight of his 13 children (as well as his wife) to water-borne diseases. “I am afraid that my remaining children will also die from cholera if we do not find fresh water soon”, he said.
However, relief came to this ravaged community. The people were overwhelmed with joy when they heard the news that the partners of The 700 Club made provision for CBN Africa to dig a well for the people of Bakin Riga.
The well was dedicated to the glory of God by CBN International Senior Coordinating Producer for The 700 Club, Dan Reany. He told the crowd of villagers who had gathered to celebrate the gift of the well that, “… the bore well provided by CBN is further proof of the power of God Who put the water deep in the ground and caused 700 Club partners in America to make provision for it in such a distant community”. He also encouraged them to honour God by looking after the water He has blessed them with.
The Village Head, Mallam Daniel Usman expressed appreciation on behalf of the community saying since the days of his ancestors, the village had been facing challenges with fresh water. However, this is now history, as God had used partners of The 700 Club to provide for their needs in this rocky land!
Thank you our dear CBN Partners for always turning frowns to smiles, for giving joy to the hopeless, and for being consistent. None of this would have been possible without you.
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