In January 2022, Myra’s Wells provided a well next to a school in a suburb of Ouagadougou called Bendatoega. There are often requests for wells at schools – in fact, the way that Myra’s Wells started was with a well at the school at Zongo. Sometimes, we feel it is difficult to justify putting wells at schools because they might only be used a couple of times a day by the children. However, if the local community is also able to use it, we do sometimes provide wells there. This was the case at Bendatoega.
Recently, we heard from a friend in Germany, Bernhard, who has connections with the school. It turned out that the well had been out of action since last November! He had only just found out. Someone had stolen the part of the electrical pump. Theft of equipment, especially solar panels, can be a problem.
We always ask the well committee at the each well to help towards this cost as well. The well committee collects small fees from the people who use the well regularly. This enables them to be able to make repairs. Bernhard wanted to contribute to the cost of this repair.
Happily, the repair has been completed and the children – and local community – are once again able to have access to a reliable source of clean water.