A new well at Ramogo has transformed the lives of this isolated rural community north west of the capital Ouagadougou.
Villagers, who previously had to walk 3km to the nearest source of water, now have a clean, accessible supply for drinking, washing and other uses on their doorsteps.
Elizabeth Kabore, pictured collecting water, is one of the local people who is seeing a difference. She has lived on Ramogo for 16 years, bringing up her six children in the village plus two orphans who she has taken into her home. In addition, Elizabeth runs a small business making and selling delicious vegetable sauces in the local market. The water she needs for her family and for this work is now close at hand, which means they no longer have to spend many hours a day fetching supplies from less reliable and potentially unclean water sources.
Villagers have also worked together to add a reservoir tank next to the well. The local pastor, Isaac Rouamba, explained that this was to allow the village to store a larger quantity of water if it were needed for a particular community project, such as making bricks for the construction of a new building.
Isaac told us ‘now we are not afraid to have visitors, as we have water to give them’ and he wanted to thank those who had made this well possible ‘we cannot say any more, for if we did, we would cry’.
To find out how you can help to bring water supplies to villages in Burkina Faso, click here