Water for the thirsty

Sitting under a walnut tree in the afternoon sun doing  research with a local farmer, I was shocked to hear he keeps a cow not for meat or milk but for the dung it will produce for next winter's heating.

His neighbour is a feudal worker on the collective farm, getting paid just 14 litres of oil and a few sacks of flour as his year's salary. An 81 yr old granny gets a £4 a month pension, the only money coming in for her whole family. One woman can't even afford the 12p round trip by bus to the town centre. This is a community in Central Asia where we are doing needs assessment for a new development project. It is poor and on the fringe of the city. The farmer goes on to explain that in winter there is no electricity for 4 months, the water pipes freeze and crack, and there is just one public well for a community of 1350 people. There are some private ones but people are ashamed to beg their neighbours for water. Also, many children contract hepatitus and dysentry from drinking dirty water. We worked hard meeting city officials this winter and are thankful for good relationships with the town hall and local community leaders. We plan to continue the needs assessment but it is already clear there is a real need for clean wells and health education in this community.

Pray that through this project a poor community might find living water..