Dedication of the Well

Suzanne Evans brought money that was raised from America to build a well. John's (our Executive Director) farm was the perfect spot for a well. A natural spring was bringing water to hundreds and it was located at the bottom of a hill at John's farm about 45 minutes South of Urukundo. The problem was that the water ran so slowly that very few people could benefit from the clean water.

Suzanne's friends came up big and raised enough money to buy a three tank system. The spring was traced back as far as they could go and a pipe put in to the source. A natural reservoir was made of rock and covered with strong sheets of wood then a large back plastic tank was buried half way into the ground and linked to the reservoir. Finally a smaller tank was linked to the big tank with two pipes bringing out water with an on/off spigot to make sure water was not wasted. The flow of water was impressive now that it was all channeled through one system of tanks. We think thousands will benefit from this system.

Dedication was set for Wednesday June 2nd. Suzanne's daughter was scheduled to be there with her group from kidsplayinternational.com. So when we arrived and found out that the dedication had been delayed by 1.5 hours I was a little frustrated that we had arrived on time at 10am.

When 11:30am rolled around and we headed down the hill to the ceremony I looked and saw maybe 30 people. As we stood and waited all of a sudden hundred's of children and adults began to make their way down the hill to the well. The atmosphere began to buzz with excitement. Both Tracy's group and ours were seated as honored guests in the front of their make shift stage. People had brought their very best chairs and furniture to make us feel comfortable as they all sat or stood in the grass in front of us.

For the next 1.5 hours we introduced our selves to the roaring delight of the crowd, we listened to kids dance, put on a skit about clean water, read poems about the joy of having a well and heard leaders express their thanks for the people from America who had changed their lives. As they danced they grabbed our hands and had us dance with them. The JOY was almost palatable.

We went down from the presentation site to the actual well and Suzanne and the Cell leader turned on the water as the crowd roared again!

Clean water is an incredible gift to Rwanda. Many children (especially young girls) will spend up to 3 hours a trip to gather water for their family. They don't go to school because of this responsibility each day. I see them along the road as I travel. Now because of this one well, many will get clean water and who knows how many children will benefit from this local well.

If you would like to see more pictures go to my picture website: http://gallery.me.com/toddellingson