Clean water is everything. Without water, we have no life - 21-year-old Nagat

It’s a few minutes after 8 a.m. in Gorora village located in Agig locality, Red Sea state. As people prepare to start the day, women, young girls, and boys stroll to the water system to collect water for their homes.

One by one they tie water containers with a rope before throwing them onto donkeys, the major mode of transport. While the younger children ride on the donkeys, the older ones walk besides them.

Among them is 21-year-old Nagat Ahmed. The oldest in her family, Nagat supports the daily chores in her household including fetching water. She happily joins her friends as they walk to the water point telling jokes and stories. It is a fun moment. 

Growing up, Nagat fetched water from a deep well where she tied a rope to a bucket handle to draw water until her containers were filled. The scary experience is still fresh in her mind as she narrates the story.

“Fetching water was very dangerous then. The well was very deep and because we were small, we always needed to be held by friends as we lowered the bucket,” Nagat shared. 

“I always feared that I would fall in the well because the containers were heavy and we were small,” she continued. “It was very easy for us to fall in that deep hole.”

Collecting water posed many risks for them and yet it was not very clean. As a result, Nagat’s home lacked sufficient water. They only had enough to cater to critical activities like cooking, drinking but bathing wasn’t one of them.

Addressing water needs in remote areas

Gorora locality is remote and one of the water stressed areas in the Red Sea state. With only two handpumps and a low yield water system, communities struggled to access clean and safe water, which compromised their health. Many families prioritized household activities with the insufficient water available at the time.

In 2020, UNICEF through the State Water Corporation and financial assistance from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (UN CERF), upgraded and motorized the only water system in Gorora village, changing the lives of Nagat’s family and other community members. Today Nagat and her friends collect clean and safe water from the water system that is only 1km from her home.

The time spent waiting for the water has also reduced. At the new water facility, the containers fill very fast and in no time, Nagat’s containers are full, and she is ready to return home. 

The Gorora water facility with a 100-container tank capacity serves between 1,500 to 3,000 people a day. The taps are open throughout the day and the water pumped with support from the sun (solar) and generator as back up, is readily available.

The water tank is filled three times a day – morning, midday and in the evening. 

As containers are filled one at a time, animals like donkeys and camels awaiting to ferry the water also have a water trough from where they drink. Both people and animals have been catered to.  

Yasir Abdalla the coordinator of the water project confirms that the new water facility has increased the amount of water at household level.

“The water is also sufficient for their animals and others use it for irrigation.”

Sustainability of the water system

To ensure the water facility is well maintained, a water user committee has been established. The committee members have been trained on rehabilitation and maintenance to ensure it continues running and providing the much-needed water. A user fee of 600 Sudanese Pounds (app 1.05 USD) is charged per barrel to support this cause. 

Safely collecting clean and safe water

Nagat’s experience with one of her daily chores – fetching water, has changed for the better ever since the new water system was opened. Today, she collects water three times a day but never worries each time.
 
“The quality of the water is much better, and I don’t need any support to get the water,” Nagat shares.

She confirms that her family now has sufficient water to cater to all activities in their home – washing hands, bathing, drinking, cleaning utensils and much more.

When asked what water means to her, Nagat answered -

“Water is everything in life. Actually, water is life, without water, we have no life.”