First person: the source of all their problems

Lydia stands by the unsafe water source.

Credit: WaterAid/Eva-Lotta Jansson

Lydia Sestone, from Mozambique's Zambezia region, has no choice but to collect water from a source she knows will make her children seriously ill, reports Mary Trafford.

Lydia's family are constantly suffering from diarrhoea. She knows that the village's only water source is to blame. She says, "I have no other way of serving my thirst, I have to go to this source even though I know it is not clean."

"Every two days at least one child suffers from diarrhoea. When the children are sick sometimes I have to take them to the hospital – this happens every month. It takes three hours to get there. It's very difficult for a sick child to walk all that way."

Lydia lives in Diba, in Mozambique's Zambezia region. This small village sits high above sea level. Breathtaking mountain views give the impression that to live there would be idyllic. Until you see the only water source – a shallow body of grey water.

This turbid pool is fed by a mountain stream which, with a little investment, could flow with cool, clean water. Spring protection is a simple, sustainable way to bring safe water to people who need it most; families like Lydia's, whose lives are being blighted by the water they are forced to drink every day.

There is hope for the people of Diba. Thanks to WaterAid supporters their water worries will soon be a thing of the past. Over the next year work will begin on a spring protection project that will ensure a healthier future for Lydia and her family.

"If I had clean water it would be a good thing for me and my family. I wouldn't take such a long time fetching water from the well and my family would be healthier."