Water Connections project – Today, we started drilling in MbinuDita

A project such as drilling a well to a depth of more than 60m, in the middle of nowhere, in an area where no one has access to water, is a challenge that requires working with the local community!

Due to these few 15 days of preparation, we had to go to the site every day, tackle the roads that are not, remember to bring all the equipment, organize, demonstrate great adaptability and resistance: Fatigue, climate, lack of sleep… But what immense happiness today! This is the ultimate reward, the joy of seeing the smiles on the faces of these villagers: They are going to have water very soon!

These few images show the work we carried out during the 15 days preceding the start of the drilling, which began November 08, 2021. A project led by the Swiss Fair Future Foundation and the Indonesian Kawan Baik Indonesia, from the field in our School and village of MbinuDita and from our Base Camp of Rumah Kambera (East Sumba and Denpasar).

Those last 15 days, access had to be opened in order to transport the equipment on-site, certainly more than a ton of material and drilling equipment. Nearly 1500m across virgin fields, tall grass, land, and dealing with the relief of the land. Note that no vehicle had previously entered the site of this drilling and it took us an hour to arrive at the site we had chosen last month. An immense feeling of having arrived in a sort of “promised land”, where water will soon spring up! Yeahhhhhh! Here you can download the full presentation. in .PDF (15mo)

It was also necessary to build a place so that the drillers can spend about 15 days on the site, including sleeping, eating, washing, cooking… But also finding solutions to bring and store the nearly 20’000 liters of water it takes to drill a well over 60 meters deep.

In this community live more than 200 families who do not have access to water or sanitation solutions. Therefore the enthusiasm is formidable, a surge of solidarity is triggered spontaneously, and the help of these poor families in terms of economy is very touching.

Even before the pandemic, millions of children and families suffered without clean water, sanitation, and a place to wash their hands in Indonesia, but also around the world.

Health problems are also increasing, as well as nutritional problems (famine and starvation), mainly affecting children and other so-called “vulnerable” people. The crisis linked to the lack of clean and consumable water here is, therefore, an absolute priority to improve the health of people, and the local economy as well.

This is why we are drilling wells, in the most complicated areas. Where communities live which, for lack of clean water, are in permanent danger. During our last discussion with the Bupati (Regent) of the province, East Sumba, we can confirm that 50% of the people do not have access to a water source. These people can only shower once a month or hopefully once every two weeks. They also have to walk ten kilometers to fetch water which is often unfit for consumption … People are in a situation of famine or with serious nutritional deficiencies. This is an observation that we make every day here, on the spot.

Despite our impressive progress, Fair Future sees alarming and growing needs, which continue to exceed our ability to meet everywhere. So we are stepping up its efforts to provide children and families with a response adapted to their most basic needs, such as solutions to produce healthy food, to improve their health and well-being.

Without water, have you ever tried to grow something!

Download the PDF presentation here. We need you all!

The Map of this project – Made by Fair Future and Kawan Baik

Your comment and feedback is invaluable

…to all of us here who are working in the field. You have a role to play, you can bring us your knowledge, it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your words and your benevolence.