In the Kankan region of eastern Guinea, clean water is not something most families can count on. The rivers run low for months. The few wells that still work can be kilometers away. And the water people can reach is often dirty enough to make them sick.
We asked a woman in Djoma Kinienkoura what daily life is like. She didn’t soften it:
“If we say we're getting clean water, we'd be lying to you. To get clean water, you have to pay a lot of money. Look at the color of our water — it's the color of a toad's urine.” — Kanko Kouyate, Djoma Kinienkoura
That is the daily reality for thousands of families here. The data behind it is just as stark. According to UNICEF, 190 million children across ten African countries face a combined threat of unsafe water, poor sanitation, and disease. Worldwide, more than 1,000 children under five die every day from illnesses tied to dirty water and poor sanitation — and a large share of those deaths are concentrated in West and Central Africa.
In one study in Ebolowa, Cameroon, 97% of children under five had suffered from a waterborne disease. The pattern across the region is the same: when the water is dirty, children pay the highest price. Families in Kinienkoura told us they have watched it happen.
“A lot of people have died from dirty water. Old people, children, babies — because children don't know the difference between clean and dirty water. When our old people get sick here, we're always told it's because of the worms from the dirty water.” — A resident of Kinienkoura
This is why we start where the need is greatest. Our first well is going into a village in this region — drilled deep, through solid rock, to reach water that is clean and stays clean. We test it before anyone drinks it. One well changes a village’s health from the very first day.
You can help fund that first well. Every gift goes straight into the ground. [Link: Donate]