Yesterday, we met Fatuma. She’s adopted a group of 35 families in Kismayo who have traveled there in search of water and food – their town in northern Somalia has been heavily hit by drought.
These families have lost everything. And while they now have access to clean drinking water – thanks to Fatuma – they lack containers to store the water. They’ve been making multiple trips a day, sometimes spending the majority of their time fetching this precious resource.
Mohamuud, an ARC team member in Kismayo, had a simple idea. What if we could provide each family with jerry cans, something they don’t currently have? Then they would be able to get large amounts of water at a time, making their difficult days a little easier.
“We say that water is life. If we can do this for these families it will be super,” said Mohamud.
With a few calls, we soon had a truck bed full of yellow jerry cans. The families gathered, eager to have this simple tool that can save hours of walking a day.
Jerry cans may seem obvious. But without Mohamuud’s idea to do something about it, things may have never changed. Now, these families can drink their water confidently, peacefully, knowing that it’s safe – that it won’t make their children sick. That there is plenty to go around.
