Otura Oloya – A Village Once Forgotten Finds Hope
While the majority of Drop in the Bucket projects are in remote, hard-to-reach villages, that is not always the case. Oturu Oloya was a village without clean water, despite the fact that two neighboring villages had wells. To the villagers of Oturu Oloya, it felt like they had been forgotten.
It was still a long walk to either of the wells, too far for the village to walk to and from each day. So the community dug their own waterhole.
Even the waterhole they had dug was a long walk, and there were other issues. During the rainy season, the sides of the waterhole would collapse inwards, so villagers were constantly clearing it out to keep it usable. Clearing out the waterhole made getting water easier but did little to help with contamination. The villagers tried to avoid getting small organisms in their containers while they collected water, but besides the contamination they could see, there was also bacteria they could not see and it was making them sick.
A Community Asking For Assistance
Some members of the community went to the local water office to ask for help. Was there any chance the district could drill a well in Oturu Oloya? The district sympathized but lacked the funding for this project, so the villagers left despondent, determined to keep trying. Their hopes were answered when a white truck bearing the Drop in the Bucket logo came to the village.
Our team was there to assess the water situation in the village and found an area that looked promising. A week later, we returned and performed a hydrogeological survey. We identified a location in the village suitable for a well. This would save the community hours of walking every day. Drilling down to the aquifer would mean there would be no issues with parasites, bacteria, or contamination.
One community member, Ojok Nelson, expressed his frustration, “We had taken our requests to the elected leader several times, but nothing happened. It made us feel like we lived in a forgotten village.” However, their surprise and happiness knew no bounds when Drop in the Bucket, an NGO, answered their call for help.
Abalo Grace, a mother of five from Oturu Oloya, was one of the people that helped clean out the waterhole each week and is overjoyed that she doesn’t have to do that anymore.
“The new well saves me so much time, both in terms of walking, but also the water is always clean and we no longer have to dig.”
The Community Shares Their Excitement
Everybody in the community shared their joy in the new well. Otim Venansio, a 74-year-old villager, beamed as he shared, “The borehole is close to my home, so every day I fill and carry home 3 jerricans of water.” Okello Richard was delighted by the short distance he had to walk each day, “I am using the water to make clay bricks and improve my home”. He proudly displayed his inventory of bricks and outlined his building plans.
Apio Filder mentioned the formation of a water source committee with rules to ensure the proper care of this invaluable gift.
During the handover ceremony of the new well to the village, Yasino Oyat, the deputy mayor of the Bar Dege District, addressed the crowd. “This borehole is now yours! Take good care of it and let other communities admire your borehole,” he declared. He further pledged assistance, providing nails and support to build a protective fence around the well, ensuring its safety.
Oturu Oloya now thrives with a fully functioning borehole well, and the villagers no longer endure the feeling of being forgotten or neglected. Their optimism for the future is palpable, a testament to the transformative power of the project.