Water close to home, Hope close to heart

For 14-year-old Atiek, daughter of Aluet, the women leader in Mangar Tong payam, life changed the day clean water came closer to home. 

In May 2025 Atiek and her mother Aluet returned from Sudan and settled in Mangar-Tong Machar Village in Aweil East County, Northern Bahr El Ghazal. There are about 500 households in the village, all of them returnees who are trying to rebuild their lives after displacement. 

But life was not easy in Mangar-Tong. Families had no access to safe water and limited access to health services. There was a bore hole in the village, but it was not working anymore so everyone had to get water from a river nearby. 

"In Sudan, water was close to our home," she recalls. "When we came here, I had to walk long distances every day to fetch water from the river." recalls Atiek.

World Vision assessed the situation and rehabilitated the borehole through the funding of the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) Project as they saw the urgent needs of the community. The new borehole was built above ground level so it would be protected from contamination and accessible at all times of the year, as the Mangar-Tong area is affected by seasonal flooding. 

For Atiek, it feels like a dream come true.

"Now water is close to our home again," she says with a bright smile. "I don't have to walk far anymore. I can get water quickly and safely."

The time she once spent making tiring trips to the river can now be used for school, helping at home, and playing with her friends. Most importantly, she no longer worries about falling on slippery roads or encountering snakes along the riverbank.

Her mother, Aluet, believes the new borehole has brought renewed hope to Mangar-Tong.

"This borehole is a sign of hope for our community," she says. "Women and children suffered the most because they had to walk long distances to fetch water. Now our children are safer, healthier, and have more time to focus on their future."

For Atiek, the rehabilitated borehole is more than an infrastructure project. It has restored a simple comfort she once enjoyed in Sudan: having clean water close to home. What was once a daily struggle filled with fear and uncertainty has become a moment of relief and joy.

Story and photo Leju Alan Roba | Communications officer