wfn.org | UMNS# 05184-Drilling for water 'works miracles' in parched country

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Drilling for water 'works miracles' in parched country

Mar. 30, 2005	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05184}

NOTE: This story is the third part of a six-week Close Up series,
"Mozambique: A Land of Contrasts." Related reports, photographs and
audio are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)-Women and girls wake early in the morning and
spend their entire day walking to find water to bring home to their
families.

The quest leaves no time for education, play or rest.

Any time of the day they can be seen on the dusty paths with heavy
buckets of water balanced on their heads and a bucket in each hand. If
they are lucky, they will reach a place with fresh, safe water. Most are
not lucky. Many only find muddy rainwater.

That is the reality for many people living in Mozambique. The concept of
just walking into the kitchen and getting a glass of water is so
foreign, most people in the country would probably think you were living
in a dream world if you told them about such things.

"Most people take it for granted that water comes from a tap. The
reality is very different for most in Mozambique," says Benedita
Penicela, director of the Living Water Society in Mozambique, a program
supported by the United Methodist Church.

"In some cases, the nearest water is 10 kilometers away," she says. "It
is mostly a job for women and girls. Many cannot attend school because
they have to travel all day to get water." Because so many young girls
are spending their days fetching water for their families, a whole
generation is being affected, she says.

"We are ending up with girls with no formal education," she says. "That
will affect our future."

The disparity in literacy rates between men and women-even in a country
with a 42.3 percent total literacy rate-is telling. According to the
World Factbook, 58 percent of Mozambican men 15 years old and above can
read, while only 27 percent of women can read. The International Women's
Development Agency reports only 37 percent of primary-aged girls and
only 17 percent of secondary-aged girls attend school.

The Living Water Society of Mozambique, in partnership with Lifewater
International, is providing wells and safe drinking water to villages.
The Living Water Society was started in 2000 with funds from the United
Methodist Church in Missouri. Lifewater International is a Christian,
volunteer-based organization dedicated to helping rural poor people all
over the world get safe drinking water.

Drilling a well in Mozambique costs $8,000, a figure that is out of the
reach of poor people in a country where the average monthly income is
$40, Penicela says. One well can serve as many as 4,000 people.

Manuel Lalane, head of the drilling crew working with the Living Water
Society, says he is helping "to work miracles."

"There are so many problems in Mozambique that relate to water
problems," he says. His crew of eight men is in constant demand to drill
more wells and repair broken ones.

"Wells are breaking because of the demand," Lalane says. "The need is
greater than the wells are capable of handling."

Dressed in bright blue uniforms, Lalane and his crew are welcome sights
to the people. Their arrival is cause for celebration. "They put up
tents and bring us meals," he says.

"Water is such a precious resource it cannot be used for hygiene
purposes," Penicela adds. One of the fallouts from the huge problems of
HIV/AIDS is that mothers breast-feed their children, spreading the
disease, because no water is available for mixing baby formula.

In the northern part of the country, where the need is greatest, wells
cannot be drilled because the available equipment does not drill deeply
enough.

United Methodist Bishop Joao Somane Machado says he recently took water
to a place in the northern Gaza Province.

"I could not believe what I was seeing," he says. He saw people drinking
the previous year's rainwater from a hole in the ground. "Even animals
should not have to drink that water."

Wells are drilled in areas near United Methodist churches or other
church programs, and in turn, the water becomes an important evangelism
tool, Machado says.

He tells the story of how an elderly woman became excited at the
dedication of a well. As the water gushed out of the pump, she threw it
up into the air and said, "This is life. This is living water. I want to
be part of a church that offers living water."

The Living Water Society has two machines, and its goal is to someday be
able to drill a well every day.

"The role of the church is to broadcast the need," Penicela says. "I am
sure many cannot imagine how bad things can be."

Contributions to the Living Water Society may be sent through a local
United Methodist church or annual conference, or by mailing a check to
Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Write the
check out to "Advance GCFA" and include Living Water Society Advance
#156000 on the check memo line. Call (888) 252-6174 to give by credit
card. For more information, visit the Advance Web site,
http://gbgm-umc.org/advance.

# # #

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer in Nashville,
Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.
********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org