By Nancy Zeller and Jennie Norman | Project Leaders
Paccy's mother lives in the Northeastern Province of Rwanda in a rudimentary home with an outdoor kitchen and latrine. Paccy used to fetch water for her 80 year old mother from the nearest well, nearly an hour's walk roundtrip, but she now works and lives too far away to do so.
After scraping together enough money to attend university, Paccy graduated from INES in 2016 and obtained a job in 2018 as a medical lab technician - a triumph - but it required her to move over 4 hours away. Paccy sends much of her monthly income to her mom to help with food and other expenses but cannot afford to pay someone to fetch her water.
I met with Paccy in April 2019 during my annual visit to Rwanda and asked about her mom's welfare. She told me about the difficulties her mom was having with no water. Paccy is incredibly shy; we converse very slowly due to our language challenges. I told her we would try to raise money to install a rainwater collection system for her mom. Her eyes welled up, she lowered her head, and tears began to fall onto her lap. We were silent for several moments. When she finally brought her head back up she smiled, I smiled, and the dream was in motion.
By August Rwanda-one4one was able to fund the water system. Paccy managed the project, sending images and receipts as the work progressed. We paid for a 500 liter tank, a cement platform, piping, and a secure brick enclosure. Rain from the roof flows via a gutter to the tank. Last week we received this message and these photos from Paccy:
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