Agnes Daly
Capuchins
Ethiopia
Agnes
Daly from Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly is a lay
volunteer, who has been working with the
Capuchin Priests and Brothers in Ethiopia, since
1973. Agnes is a teacher and worked for many
years in the Guraghe region. However, in 2002
she was invited to Kola which is a rural area,
situated about 150 km south west of Addis Ababa.
This region is fairly densely populated with
about 30,000 households living in seven
villages. Like many African regions the main
source of water is the river. Unfortunately,
river water often carries water borne diseases
and is therefore a health hazard for both humans
and animals. In this hot, arid region water is
essential for life and so daily trips to the
river are vital. For many families the river is
far from their homes often involving a three
hour round trip walk. Even the cattle have to be
herded long distances for drinking water. This
means that a lot of time and energy is spent on
collecting water and seeing to the needs of the
animals. Sometimes children miss valuable school
time collecting water or making sure that the
cattle have been taken to the river.
Agnes soon realised that the provision of clean
drinking water would be of great benefi t to the
health and well being of the people of the
region. She felt that there was a good chance of
discovering ground-water in this lowland region
so she called in the local Hydro Team who
assured her that there was an abundance of
ground-water. However, the excessive depth of
the water-table could and did prove problematic
for hand pumps in at least one village.
The aim of the project was to drill a well in
each of the seven villages of the area, thus
providing clean drinking water for the region.
Clean water means reducing the workload of
schoolgirls and giving them the opportunity to
attend school. It would also lighten the burden
of the women who had to walk long distances to
the river for their drinking and domestic water
and water troughs could be used to water the
animals. Finally, and perhaps most important of
all, clean drinking water would have a very
positive effect on the health of the whole
community.
Six of the seven wells proved successful from
the beginning but further exploration will have
to take place to provide water for the seventh
village. Agnes recounts the great joy of the
people on the day that the fi rst water pump was
connected in Jato village. "As the sparkling
water gushed out of the well a great cheer went
up and in true Ethiopian style the women began
to dance. One old man wiped a tear of joy from
his eye while exclaiming to his friend, 'I never
thought I would witness such an event in my
life-time.'"