A Young Girl’s Walk for Water

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Maegan Clark

Water is a vital resource for agriculture, sanitation and for all human existence. Yet 780 million people do not have access to clean water. In recognition of World Water Day on March 22, Heifer International is highlighting the need for those struggling to emerge from poverty to have reliable access to water.

Water. A simple requirement for many of us in the world, but not for Idess, a young girl living in Zambia who has to walk a mile four or five times a day to retrieve just a bucket of water or two.

Idess lives just outside of Ndola, Zambia, in a community called Kanyenda, with her family, which has received goats from Heifer International. At 15, Idess is in the 8^th grade but school isn’t her only responsibility. She and her mother, Dainess, 46, are also tasked with going to fetch water from the community well. Though she is in her teenage years, Idess understands her role in the family dynamic.

Idess, a 15-year old girl with much hope, thanks to Heifer

I was able to spend time with Idess and her mother one Saturday to learn how they spend each day on chores like fetching water and cooking for the family. Though I had arrived early in the morning, they had already gone to bring water back once that day for the morning’s tasks. It was already time to walk back to the well to bring water for the preparation of the family’s lunch.

We grabbed our buckets and began to make the walk in the hot, African sun even though Idess and her mother do not wear shoes. As we started to walk, Idess stayed close by my side to make sure I didn’t have any trouble carrying the empty buckets or get lost along the multiple dirt roads. Though she was young, she had made this walk so many times she does it with ease.

After about 25-30 minutes, we arrived at the well, about 40 feet deep. Attached to the well was a yellow Jerry can that is dropped into the well to lift out the water. Dainess showed us how to drop the can in the well and lift it out to pour it into the bucket. She did it with such grace that the 30-pound bucket seemed effortless to lift up. Next was my turn to try. After one unsuccessful attempt to fill the bucket full of water, I tried again. Idess explained that you have to turn the can to the side and lift up, turn the can and lift up again to get it fully filled.

It was time to lift the can out of the well. My attempt had none of the grace of Dainess’ maneuverings. The bucket was heavy, the rope was wet and my hands were not strong enough to hold the rope and pull it up out of the well. Idess gave me a sweet smile and then asked if she could help. Water is a resource that no one can live without and she understands the importance of bringing back as much water as you can each trip.

Once our buckets were filled with water, it was time to return. I wanted to try to carry the water on my head the way Dainess and Idess do, to try to understand how they live each day. Idess helped me as I placed the bucket on my head. As the 15-25 lb bucket of water settled on my head, I started to feel the tension in my shoulders, back and mostly my neck. As we began to walk, water slowly sloshed out of the bucket onto my face, shirt and pants. (I had a real fear that there would be no water left in the bucket once we arrived at their house.) As we walked back, everyone was much quieter, focusing on their load.

Carrying back the water, though using two hands is cheating

After about 30 minutes, we arrived back at the house with water left in all buckets to use for cooking. To retrieve the water took about an hour and a half. Cooking prep took another hour, as did the cooking process. After about 3 hours, we had retrieved water, prepared food and cooked. Most days, Dainess and Idess have to do this two to three times for their family.

Dainess prepares lunch with the water that was collected.

The water we collected was to cook and wash dishes with for that day. The other water collected will be for the goats the family received from Heifer, for the family’s consumption, small garden and for bathing.

As we think about World Water Day, let’s think about Idess. Her hopeful smile shows that the work we do at Heifer is impacting her family by showing them how to manage water consumption and practice water conservation to not only improve their lives, but the environment as well.

Give the gift of clean water today.

A Simple Project Teaches Importance of Irrigation

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Chelsey McNiel

Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. Water is a vital resource for agriculture, sanitation and for all human existence. Yet 780 million people do not have access to clean water. In recognition of World Water Day on March 22, Heifer International is highlighting the need for those struggling to emerge from poverty to have reliable access to water.

: Vivienne Wychorski holds up a carrot at Overlook Farm in Rutland, Mass., to show volunteer Elizabeth Joseph (right). Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Many countries around the world, and states such as Arizona and Nevada, do not receive adequate rainfall to sustain crops. These dry areas may have lakes and rivers, which can provide water for crops, but farmers must first transport water from the natural source. A fun, team irrigation project can help kids understand how farmers have solved this problem.

Photo credit: peacepalacelibrary.nl

What You Need:

Garden or Plants
Watering Can
Garden Hose
Garden Spigot
Inflatable Wading Pool

If possible, find an outdoor garden with growing plants. Place the water-filled wading pool about 20-30 feet away.
Gather your group around the garden and ask the kids to pretend there is not enough rain to water the plants where they live. The pool will serve as a pretend nearby lake.
Have the kids work together, suggesting ways to supply the garden with water using only the tool of a watering can.
Once they decide to carry water from the “lake” to the garden, discuss the method’s disadvantages (heavy, water spills, tiring, etc.).
Now it’s time to show the group a better way to irrigate crops. Explain how farmers store water in tanks instead of only relying on natural water sources.
Have a volunteer attach a garden hose to the water spigot, then run the hose to the garden. Compare the garden hose to pipes which farmers run through their fields to quickly irrigate crops without wasting water.

See Complete Irrigation Project

Find Out More About World Water Day

Water-logged: A Water Use Infographic

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Austin Bailey

If you already turn the faucet off while you brush your teeth, thanks. Every little bit counts when it comes to respecting and preserving our planet’s supply of clean water. But there are plenty of other choices we all make each day about what we eat, buy and wear that affect our water supply even more.

Graphic by John Houser

This World Water Day, take a moment to consider everything that water makes possible. Tell us in the comments what steps you have taken to make sure there’s enough clean water for everyone.

Make Your Own Model Water Well

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Linda Meyers

Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. This week, I had the opportunity to talk with Francis Bouba-Dalambaye, country director for Heifer Senegal. He talked about the very difficult dry season farmers in his country face, leaving them without a food source for two to three months a year. Heifer is working to teach these farmers about drought-resistant agriculture including improved animal breeds and plants, as well as working to provide safer and more abundant water. This got me thinking about water supplies and how people would get water in drier or more rural climates, and I came across this activity to help kids understand how people get water from wells.

Create Your own Water Well

Photo credit: education.com

Materials:

Cardboard toilet paper tube
Large, empty coffee can
Gravel (like from a fish or pet store)
Sand
Water

Stand the toilet paper tube in the center of the bottom of the coffee can. Hold the tube steady and pour a layer of the gravel around the bottom outside edge (not inside the tube), making the gravel layer about 2″ deep. Pour a layer of sand on top of the gravel. Some of the sand will fill gaps in the gravel; the rest will build up to make another layer, which should be about 1½” deep. Make sure no sand gets inside the tube. After pouring the sand, about ½” of the cardboard tube should still be sticking up above the sand and gravel. (The sand and gravel layers represent the soil and the tube represents the well.)

Now it’s time to see how wells get their water. What do you think will happen when you add water to the sand and gravel? Pour water onto the sand and gravel (NOT into the tube), continuing until the water level reaches the very top of the sand layer.

Keep your eye on the the tube. What happens?

Where is the water in the well coming from? How does the water get inside the well? How is this miniature well related to real-life wells? Why is it important to be aware of what we put in our soil?

Find out more about this activity and how it relates to real-life wells.

Read about a current Heifer project in Senegal in World Ark online.

Water: One of the Basic Human Rights

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Erin Snow

Nine-year-old Rahim pumps water in Kilulu village.

Water is a natural resource that I use regularly and never have to think much about. It’s a given that the clean, safe and refreshing liquid will flow freely from any of the several faucets in my house at any time I choose.

Not everyone is so fortunate. An estimated 780 million people don’t have access to clean water. That’s equal to two and a half times the population of the United States.

Through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the human right to water and sanitation on July 28, 2010, calling this human right “essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” It further “calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer, through international assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in order to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.”

Source: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml

Water shortage packs a powerful punch. Compromised access to water, let alone clean water, leads to undernourished communities and even famine. Residents of developing countries around the world face this life and death challenge every single day.

Heifer International understands the necessity of clean, safe water for hygiene and home consumption, as well as raising healthy livestock and gardens. That’s why we work with families all over the world to ensure reliable access to an abundance of water that is free from dangerous, disease-causing microorganisms, pollution and chemicals.

Cisterns installed in Maniche, Haiti, make it possible for residents like Louis Desira, a tailor, to spend more time and energy on his profession than walking four kilometers each day to fetch water.

Members of Heifer’s Improving Farm Households’ Capacity in Long Phu District, Soc Trang Province in Vietnam have saved money to build hand-pumped wells. Thanks to this project, residents no longer carry unsafe water from the local river to their village every day because the wells provide clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing.

When communities have wells full of clean water at their disposal, they can implement innovations that contribute to good hygiene. Check out the highly affordable tippy tap hand-washing system Heifer project participants are using in African countries like Uganda and Zambia.

We live in a world of plenty, yet there are so many who struggle every day to survive without sufficient access to water – one of the most fundamental needs and basic human rights. The good news is there are solutions. Heifer International works diligently with partner organizations and families all over the world to end hunger, poverty, water shortages and related issues through methods that are innovative, effective and proven.

This Human Rights Day, give the gift of clean drinking water.

Make a Rain Gauge

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Lauren Bucher

Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. We have begun mailing our Gift Catalog for this year’s holiday season and will be featuring activities that highlight the items available.

Life for many farmers hinges on access to water—how much it rains, when it rains and how to store it. Water access determines how farmers irrigate their crops and helps determine their land’s productivity. Heifer International teaches communities how to manage their water resources through sustainable agricultural techniques.

Sustainable water-resource use is an issue of growing importance in industrialized nations as well, due to the earth’s growing population and climate change. A homemade rain gauge can measure water in your yard and help you determine if you are over- or under-watering your lawn. Plus, it’s a fun way for kids to see how much rain falls in a storm.

Rain Gauge | Photo Courtesy of thepolkadottedturtle.com

Make Your Own Rain Gauge Materials

A ruler
Clear cylindrical glass jar
Funnel (optional)
Permanent marker
Glue (optional)
Clear tape (optional)
Wire hanger (optional)

Begin with a clean jar. Make sure to peel away any stubborn labels and residual adhesive. Check and make sure the jar has a flat bottom on the inside, that it isn’t bowed or indented in any way like the bottom of a plastic soda bottle. This will affect your measurement’s accuracy.

Press the ruler flat against the side of the jar, making the bottom of both flush with a flat surface. Mark measurements with the marker or tape the ruler to the jar with clear tape.

Next, tape or glue the plastic funnel on top of the jar with the narrow end inside if you choose to include it. Secure the gauge by using pliers to straighten the wire hanger. Wrap part of the wire around the mouth of the jar and attach to a pole. Alternatively, you can place your gauge on the ground, just make sure it is secure enough that wind won’t knock it over. Place it away from trees and out from under buildings—the runoff will affect your readings. The important thing here is to have the jar level.

Measure away.

For more details on how to make your own rain gauge, visit the Polka Dotted Turtle website.

Read how hand-pumped wells deliver fresh water to a community in Vietnam.

Access to Water in Haiti is Crucial

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Jason Woods

At the end of the summer, I traveled to Haiti to spend a couple of weeks visiting projects with Heifer Haiti staff. For previous posts on my trip, see my page.

Louis Desira poses next to the water cistern in Maniche, Haiti. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

From the time he was a child and on into adulthood, Louis Desira walked to a river two kilometers away from his home in Maniche to get water for the day. The round-trip walk lasted at least an hour and a half, not counting the time it took to put the water into containers.

Now, thanks to Heifer’s From the Ground Up project, Louis shares a water cistern with four other families, all of which are members of CODEDPE. The cistern is located at a church next door to Louis’ house, which provides much easier access than the river two kilometers down the road.

Louis is a tailor, and a good one at that. He specializes in pants and dress shirts.

Louis Desira displays the clothes he made in his home in Maniche. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

“Now I have more time to make clothes,” said Louis, who has been a tailor for more than 40 years. “I don’t have to stop making clothes to go get water.”

When I asked Louis if that means he can make more clothes to sell, he quietly replied, “No, it allows me to make a better product and make my customers happier.”

In addition to being more convenient, the cistern also provides access to cleaner water. According to a report from Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante, the New York University Law School’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, “close to 70 percent of the entire (Haitian) population lacks direct access to potable water at all times” and “the problem is actually worsening…”

Although Heifer’s is known for its expertise in livestock management, our projects extend even further than that to meet the specific needs of the community. In Haiti, that means Heifer’s projects might address a community’s lack of access to water in one way or another, as is the case with Louis in Maniche and also with Prosper Kunius and Telfort Monestinein Terrier-Rouge.

Prosper and Telfort are members of the Livestock Cooperative of Terrier-Rouge (KOET) near Ouanaminthe and the border with the Dominican Republic. In addition to receiving two bulls to improve the quality of their cattle, the cooperative received a water pump and a generator so the animals can have a consistent water source.

“Our members are very satisfied with the water pump,” Telfort said. “It helps us keep all the cows alive because during the dry season, we would lose cows (before).”

Prosper Kunius and Telfort Monestine with KOET's cattle trough in Terrier-Rouge. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

Louis, Prosper and Telfort are just a few of the people working with Heifer to not only secure access to basic needs like food and water but also to lift themselves out of poverty. To learn more and to support Haitian families, please visit the web page for Heifer Haiti’s newest project, REACH.

Drought Solutions: Pitcher Irrigation

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Donna Stokes

In the arid southern Sindh province in Pakistan, farmers are employing an ancient technique of drip irrigation to what they call miraculous effect. An article this week from the Christian Science Monitor is a fresh reminder of how even low-tech ingenuity can bring life in the form of fresh vegetables to farmers dealing with climate change and drought around the world.

For 34-year-old Soomar in Pakistan, plants are growing where before there was only sand, with the region receiving only about five inches of rain a year. Pitcher irrigation—where porous clay pots are buried to seep water to the roots of plants directly—has provided a fresh source of income for more than 200 families who previously thought it impossible to farm vegetables on these dry lands, according to the article.

“All we did was plant pitchers [in the soil] and sow different vegetable seeds, and it feels as if the vegetables are growing on their own,” Soomar said. He buried 20 pitchers on the land outside his hut near Chotiari freshwater reservoir.

The method is ideal for sandy to loamy soil with good porosity.

Saleh Mangrio, executive director of the Pakistan-based Center for Rural Change, has conducted successful experiments with pitcher irrigation at the community level in Sindh’s eastern desert under a project funded by the Dutch government and managed by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan.

The rate of water seepage from a pitcher depends on the type of plant and soil, and climatic conditions, he explains. Once the surrounding soil becomes saturated, water will soak back into the pot, filling it again. “The system is self-regulating and water losses are negligible,” he says in the article.

For more information on how you can put together your own pitcher irrigation system, check out these site from Michigan Technological University and howtopedia.org.

Learn How Water Filtering Works with This Hands-On Activity

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Linda Meyers

Once a week we will be featuring a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. August is National Water Quality Month, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to post this water-filtering activity.

One way to conserve water is to clean it and reuse it. This is a good activity to help teach kids about the importance of water conservation. This water filter will show one of the processes that water purification plants use.

An important note before we start: Don’t drink the water filtered in this activity. All non-treated water should be boiled before consumption.

Materials:

Plastic soda bottle
Scissors or utility knife
Cheese cloth
Rubber bands
Sand
Gravel (aquarium gravel will work)

Cut the soda bottle in half; remove the lid. Put three layers of cheese cloth over the narrow mouth of the bottle and use rubber bands to hold them in place. Put the top half upside down into the bottom half to catch the water Put a layer of sand in the top half of the bottle followed by a layer of gravel. Get some dirty water. If you do not have dirty water you can make some water dirty by using cookingoil, dirt, bits of food, etc. Pour dirty water into the top half of the bottle. It should run through the sand and gravel, out the cheese cloth and come out clearer in the bottom half of the bottle.

To read more about this activity, go to How to Make a Water Filter as a Science Experiment. See how Heifer participants deal with the issue of safe and clean water where their access is limited on the Heifer blog. You can find more fun and educational activities related to our work at www.heifer.org.

Add Color to Your Carnations

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Linda Meyers

Once a week we will be featuring a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom.

Most of you who celebrate Easter have taken part in the time-honored, yet messy, tradition of dyeing Easter eggs. Try a new twist this year, and dye some carnations to brighten someone’s day and learn a little in the process about how a plant absorbs water and where it goes.

For this activity, you’ll need:

6 white carnations
6 plastic cups
Food coloring (red, blue, and green work well)
A knife
Water

Directions

Fill each cup half full with water.
Add about 20-30 drops of food coloring to each cup of water. In this case, more food coloring is better!
Before placing any of the flowers in the colored water, trim the stem of each flower at an angle to create a fresh cut.
Place one freshly cut white carnation in each of the cups of colored water. Make some predictions: Which color will be soaked up first? How long will it take?
You’ll want to check back every few hours to see how things are progressing. It may take as much as 24 hours for the colored water to work its way up to the white petals.
At the conclusion of your experiment, remember to examine the whole plant carefully, including the stems, leaves, buds and petals, to find every trace of color.

If you want to go natural (which we at Heifer International strongly encourage), try these websites for tips on how to make dyes with food products:

How does it work?
Most plants “drink” water from the ground through their roots. The water travels up the stem of the plant into the leaves and flowers, where it makes food. When a flower is cut, it no longer has its roots, but the stem of the flower still drinks up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.

If the water a plant uses to grow was polluted, would that affect the plant? In what ways?

You can find this activity (courtesy of Steve Spangler Science) and others in the Classroom Resources section of Heifer International’s website.

Don’t forget to let us know how it works for you in the comments.

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