Haua's hopes for the future

Haua is looking forward to a time when her life is no longer dictated by a lack of water.

Credit: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

The women and girls from Fikaji in northern Nigeria have two choices about where to collect their water: from a river nearly an hour away or a pond 20 minutes away. Although the pond is dirty, shared with livestock, frogs and unknown germs and diseases, it is much closer to the village and therefore used as the main water source.

"All my life, everything has been about water," explains 47 year old Haua who lives in Fikaji. "I want to have a bath, there is no water. I want to wash clothes, no water. I want to cook, no water. Always everything is water, no water."

The water here has had devastating effects for Haua, as two of her own children and one of her grandchildren have died from the diseases it has brought.

But life is set to change for Haua and the other 500 villagers in Fikaji. Hygiene education is now underway, latrines are being dug and a new water source will be constructed later this year.

"When the well is dug and is close by, we will be able to bathe, wash our clothes and drink clean water. We will spend less time fetching water and have more time to do other things," Haua continues. "Once the water comes we will be able to look forward to other social amenities. When the water comes we will be able to build the slabs for the latrines, so people will no longer have to go to the bush."

Haua is already taking an active role in the project as she is a key member of the community's WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) group.

"For now we are concentrating on hygiene. My work with the WASH committee involves letting people know that they must wash their hands before and after food. They need to keep their clothes clean, their plates clean."

The committee meets up every two weeks to discuss issues and also to give feedback on how the community are doing. Haua and others also make house visits to see how people are getting along.

"The women have realized the level of sickness the children used to have as a result of bad hygiene," she adds. "Sickness with the children has gone down dramatically."

But the community's plans don't stop at hygiene, sanitation and water. They are already seeing the many possibilities for development that these changes will bring to the village.

"Once we have the water and sanitation, the next thing the village wants to do is build a school so all the children can get an education," Haua says. "They will not have to stay home and help their mothers fetch water and if we have water and sanitation we will be able to get a teacher to come here. The well will change our lives."