This Catholic parish is helping to bring fresh water to a poor Nigerian village

Sometimes, they must make multiple trips a day, Ngama says.

Young girls in Ozuomme are often the ones retrieving the household water because the village has no running water and it’s the girls who are expected to do the household chores and take care of the homes, Ngama said.

The journey often begins at 4 a.m. before the sun rises. That’s because during Nigeria’s dry season, when the heat consistently reaches 100 degrees, it would be dangerous to get caught in the intense African sun while being a far walk from home. The children also need to finish the trip before school starts at 8 a.m.

“Fear” is the memory that Ngama has of her own experiences fetching water as a young girl in Ozuomme.

The route’s steep slopes often pose a danger to the young children carrying the multiple-gallon water jugs on their heads back to their families, she recalled. One time, Ngama badly injured her wrist while slipping as she made her way down one of the slopes.

Reaching the stream is just half the battle. Filling their jugs with water often requires the children to wade into the deeper sections of the stream, which has a strong current. Ngama says that many children have drowned this way.

Added to these dangers is a very real threat of being kidnapped.

“We were always afraid of kidnappers because the trip was so lonely,” Ngama said. Nigeria is no stranger to kidnappings, especially in the Catholic community, where reports of bishops, priests, and religious sisters being attacked or taken hostage often circulate in the media.

The terrorist group Boko Haram is the most feared in the country, Ngama said, pointing to a 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 school girls that made national and international headlines.

By the time children arrive back at the village, they’re exhausted. 

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Ngama said that most of the children who must undertake this journey on a regular basis wind up dropping out of school because it’s such an arduous job.

Ngama never dropped out of school because she said her parents were extremely supportive and wanted her to get an education. Her parents did everything they could, including excusing her from going to the stream some days after school so she could finish her schoolwork, Ngama recalled.

Tangible results

The first of six boreholes has already been built in Ngama’s village thanks to the I Thirst campaign. Six are needed in total to serve each of the six Christian communities within Ozuomme.

Ngama told CNA the villagers in Ozuomme were elated about the borehole, “especially as it was built during the dry season when the scarcity of water is being felt more.”