A Future for Wudnesh
“I suffered from abdominal cramps and fell ill with a bout of diarrhea and throw ups. I know of four children in my neighborhood that often experienced the same episode, and that was bad,” remembers Wudnesh Tesfaye (13). She lives with her parents in Malka Jabbi village in the Abaya District of Southern Ethiopia.
Children like Wudnesh use to trek for two hours, twice a day to streams in search of unsafe water. The water was shared with other villagers as well as their cattle. “We know that even some wild animals around us drank from the same stream we drew water from but there was no alternative proposition for us,” said Wudnesh. Her mother, Godana Dukkale (40), fetched water from the same streams all of her life.
Wudnesh is a 4th grader. She thinks she is too old to attend primary school with small children but she has a reason to excuse herself. Wudnesh discontinued her education several times at successive academic years due to illness from water-borne diseases. Some school girls stop their education after scoring low grades due to prolonged absences. Many more opt out to stay at home after missing classes due to a long illness. Without education, girls can easily fall into early marriage.
World Vision Ethiopia’s Abaya WASH team responded to the water shortage in Malka Jabbi Village with a hand dug well. Today the village has access to safe drinking water. Wudnesh and all the community children have found relief. “Only after World Vision… provided support for us that I realize that we lacked what we needed the most,” said Wudnesh.
As chance has it, Wudnesh’s home is located very close to the new well and she walks only two minutes to get clean water. She is working hard in school to compensate for the lost days and the time spent on fetching the sickening water. “I do not want my past experience to cross my mind because it’s hurting,” she said. Now Wudnesh has enough time to read school books and do homework. Science being her favorite subject, Wudnesh envisions studying medicine to become a medical doctor. She enjoys being able to plan church activities and practice singing gospel songs.
Wudnesh’s father, Tesfaye Faresso (60) is a member of the village Water Committee who oversees the communal water. “No earthly procession can make parents happier than seeing their children being healthy and visionary,” he said. He sees that vision in his daughter’s efforts at school. As for the training, he received from the World Vision WASH team is concerned, he continues to educate the village water users about hygiene and sanitation.
“Thanks to World Vision, we’ve become aware of hygiene, healthy environment, water storage, and resource management,” Wudnesh said.