Global Aid Initiative Network

When we see long lineups, we often have 2 thoughts….pity and curiosity. Pity, because lineups mean waiting, and we sympathize with people having to lose time from their busy schedules, and curiosity, because we wonder what’s at the front of the line that’s worth lining up for in the first place. Usually these kinds of things happen at places like Disneyland or on Boxing Day, at any retail store with advertised deep discounts.

Malungo, in the coastal Linde region, is one of the first villages in Tanzania where GAiN drilled a water well. Recently a visiting Canadian drilling team spent a few days in Malungo with our local GAiN drilling team, supplementing their drilling technique training. The visiting team drove to Malungo with Isack, our project manager. Several kilometers from the village, they began to see women with buckets making their way to the village. When Isack told the Canadians that these women were walking to Malungo just to get water from the newly drilled well, they didn’t believe them right away. As the truck came nearer to the village, the numbers of women increased, and once in the village, these numbers formed a lineup to the new water well pump. Now convinced, the Canadian team really took note that this well was a “going concern”, bringing life-giving water to dozens of families. What impacted the team even more, though, was the fact that over the several days that they spent in Malungo, the lineup was always there – a steady stream of women flowed through, counting it worth the walking for hours and the time waiting in line, in order to have pure, fresh water for their families. To get an even larger scope of the difference this is making to this area, Isack confirms that people from 8 surrounding villages are now coming to Malungo to get their water!