Water comes to Mahove!

At last, water has come to the village of Mahove!

Pastor Naftal sent a dozen photos on Sunday, showing progress on the construction of a 6.8 kilometer pipeline that connects the village of Mahove to an existing water system.  Above, Evangelist Azuberi Mhema (who also served as a lead construction team member on the project) holds the pipe that fills Anna's bucket with the first water to arrive in the village.  Prayers of thanks were spoken and much celebrating followed.

This is where the new pipe joins the existing main line.  The villages of Kisilwa, Mahuninga, and Makifu have been served by the water system for over 30 years.  These villages are all in an area of the Great Rift Valley where wells have not provided a good source of water -- shallow wells run dry nine months of the year, and deeper wells have proven very expensive, both to drill into the bedrock, and to treat the water those wells produce, as it contains elements that make it undrinkable.

70 villagers provided volunteer labor to dig the trench for the pipes.  They dug the trench two feet deep for 6.8 kilometers.  Then technicians laid the pipes.  Here, villagers fill in the trench.  A water committee has been appointed, and their job will be to monitor and maintain the new water system.  It's important that the pipe remain buried.  As rains come each year, the community will need to check the pipeline to make sure soil erosion does not expose the pipeline to the sun, which causes deterioration and leakage.

 

Construction continues at the end of the pipeline.  These workers are preparing to install the final access point.  These bricks will be covered in cement and there will be a faucet at the top of the cylinder in the center of the circle.  People in the village will still have to walk each day for their water, but instead of walking 6.8 kilometers and then back uphill with their full buckets, this faucet will be just 400 meters from most of the homes in the village.

Villagers lined up with their buckets to collect water, even before the pipeline is connected to the faucet.

Evangelist Azuberi Mhema holds the gushing water line during a word of prayer and thanksgiving.

The water project is not complete -- there is still maintenance work to be done on the existing main line.  But oh! what wonderful news to know that water has come to Mahove at last. Thanks to all who have made this day possible with their generous gifts!