Zambia is currently facing a significant challenge due to severe drought conditions, which have led to water scarcity at the girls’ house well.
After drawing several buckets of water, the well has begun to yield milky water. The inadequate rainfall experienced last year has resulted in a substantial decrease in the water table, exacerbating the drought affecting many households.
To address this issue, we have excavated our well more than four times this year alone, with three of those instances occurring within a two-month span. This trend illustrates the rapid decline of the water table; in contrast, last year we only needed to re-dig the well twice throughout the entire year, with the last occasion in mid-October.
The process of re-digging the well means a slender man is lowered via rope, about 35 feet down to the bottom of the well shaft, and using a shovel and a bucket, he digs and sends what he removes, back up to the top to his helper.
We are blessed to have James and a “Walya” who are able to do this for us. We can report that we have gone as deep as we can, so the well will provide limited water and we are researching other options to help us until the rains start.
