A new start in Birnin Gaye

For most of the year there wasn't enough water in Birnin Gaye. The hot Nigerian sun would parch the earth, forcing women to dig down into the dry, sandy riverbed to collect the scarce water available for their families; back-breaking work for a drink that came from a source shared with the community's animals.

Then, when the rains came, there was too much water in Birnin Gaye. As the river swelled, dirt and waste mixed with the water and sometimes the torrent was so strong that even people were caught in its flow. It had been known for children to be swept away.

Before the new water supply Adana had to dig down in to the dry, sandy riverbed to search for her family's water.

Credit: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

But life has changed in the village since WaterAid and its partners worked with the community to build a water supply, as Adana Huruna from the village explains:

"Before the well was installed I had to go to the river at least three times a day for water. Each trip would take an hour to scoop and wait your turn, so three hours a day was spent just collecting water.

"Life here was difficult before the well. We got sick often, especially my children. My family got cholera and other sicknesses from drinking the water. One of my children died from this. Virtually every month one of my children would get sick and I would have to spend a day taking them to the clinic 14 kilometres away.

"I was spending 1000 naira (£4) a month on medicine. It was very expensive and was difficult to find the money, so I would have to take a loan or buy on credit and it would be a month before I could pay it back. By then another child was sick. We were always in debt from illnesses.

"After the intervention, all this has changed. The difference now is that we don't have to carry our sick children to hospital. It has been two years since there was serious sickness.

"I have more time and can make some extra money. We are not in debt from the medication and the extra money goes towards the cost of education and uniforms. All my children are in school now. I used to have to keep them home to help me.

Adana can now collect safe, clean water from the well in Birnin Gaye.

Credit: WaterAid/Suzanne Porter

"Since the well I have more time to rest, the children don't feel sick, and I am able to make things better for my family.

"I also know now that it wasn't just the water that was making my children sick. I never thought about the need to wash hands with soap before DWMCU (WaterAid's partner organisation - Dass Women Multipurpose Cooperative Union) started the hygiene education programme.

"Now I make sure my home is clean. I sweep first thing in the morning and make sure I wash my cooking utensils and my hands before I prepare food. I wash the children's faces and hands, especially before eating.

"I do not know how much was the water and how much was the hygiene, but I do know that people are much healthier now. It is a relief that my children are not always sick. I am happy in my heart that my children are happy and well."

Cost examples in Nigeria

• £2.40 could pay for a hand washing facility for a family
• £6 could pay for a 50kg bag of cement, enough to make two laterine slabs
• £40 could pay for 11 committee members to be trained how to maintain water and sanitation facilities in a rural community
• £60 pays a mason to construct a rainwater tank that can collect enough rainwater for two households
• £100 pays a mason to construct one hand-dug well for 150 people