Tuesday morning - visit to Bobol Village

This village has 83 households and 519 people living in it and intervention from WaterAid in 2011 provided a bore hole which was available from March 2012.

Here 76 households now have latrines and 69 have handwashing facilities.

Conflict in this area between 1987-1992 left many widows and in 2003 the Lord's Resistance Army invaded the area for around a year. Some Supporters were visiting widows and their families, our family consisted of brother and sister David and Nora.

As soon as we arrived the difference was obvious, people's clothing was cleaner and smarter and everyone wore flip flops or shoes. Our family had a large number of animals including chickens, turkeys, pigs and many goats and cattle. They could afford cockerels and so could breed their chickens to ensure a constant supply of them. There were also crops grown like cowpeas, cassava, maize, millet and groundnuts (peanuts) which are sold to other villagers or at market.

We saw the latrine which had two "cubicles" and a concrete floor and then helped to build a tippy tap. These allow you to wash your hands after using the latrine without having to touch the water container and so reduce the spread of bacteria and illness.

We then went to collect water from the bore hole and this time two bikes were available to attach the containers to. We were told that prior to WaterAid's intervention the village had to put a business plan forward and now each family pays a monthly amount for water, this ensures there is money to repair the pump and the money left earns interest which is reinvested in village enterprises in order to ensure sustainability.

We returned with 60 litres of water and then attempted to milk a cow (which we were hopeless at!) and helped to shell some groundnuts which were then toasted along with some millet porridge for breakfast.

Nora then invited us to bathe (shower) in an enclosed structure with soap, towel and a bucket of water which was very refreshing after all the heat and dust! We then learnt of David's passion for reading his Bible and took it in turns to read.

Five minutes before we needed to leave lunch arrived - chicken curry and rice! We were still full  from breakfast so had a small amount and then had to rush off for presentations at Wera School.