Two years ago, Mariama gathered with a crowd of people in her village to watch a well being drilled by World Vision. She had never seen the strange machinery. Even now, her eyes open wide as she recalls that important day. “When they built the well, I saw metallic materials, pipes, big vehicles, and I saw the water come out,” she said. “When the water first came out, I was so happy. I laughed with all my friends. We were joyful. The joy was because before we had to go far to get water, but now [the well] is very close to the village and we are happy.”

The other well, which had water of questionable quality, was located more than a mile away from the village—a 30-minute walk for a child. Mariama used to collect water every morning and evening. “I was very tired by the end of it,” she said. “Now the distance is short.”

Mariama has been a World Vision sponsored child for three years. She is in the fourth grade at a school where World Vision has built classrooms and latrines. “World Vision gave me shoes, a mosquito net, and clothes,” she said. But most of all, she is grateful for the water.

Photo: Mariama carries her bucket of clean water home from the well.