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Jaresso Kuita Village: Water scheme rehabilitation in Jaresso uplifts the life of a pregnant mother

Roba Gabino fetches water at the Jaresso water scheme

Roba Gabino lives in rural Jaresso Kebele in Konso Zone, Ethiopia, with her husband, two children and expecting her third child. Before ForAfrika and Konso Development Association (KDA) rehabilitated and upgraded a water scheme in her community to solar, had to walk for hours to fetch water. The rehabilitated water scheme is a fully set up motorised borehole that includes solar power, a motor, water reservoir and water faucets.

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“Everyone expected so much from me as a mother, but I didn’t even have the time to play with my children or to rest. I would put the children to bed and cry myself to sleep. I was so depressed.”

- Roba Gabino

For many mothers in Ethiopia like Roba, the lack of access to safe water close to home prevents them from spending time with their children. “I would wake up very early in the morning, at 5 or 6 a.m., to go look for water in faraway places. I had to leave the children behind. It was a four kilometres trek, so it took two hours to walk. Being away from home for so long at such a critical time, in the morning, affected my two young children” Roba shared with a gloomy face.

The rehabilitated water scheme in Jaresso is a fully motorised borehole that includes solar power, a motor, water reservoir and water faucets.

She further explained: “The situation when I got back was really bad, my husband would be tending the farm, and my children would be left at home, alone and hungry. I would come home, make breakfast, prepare the children for school, and then go out again for water. I went to fetch water three times a day. I was distressed emotionally, spending at least 10 hours every day fetching water, sometimes more if there were longer queues.”

Roba at her homestead.

Spending almost her entire day fetching water in the Konso heat left Roba feeling miserable. She had limited time for household chores and for her children. “Now with the water scheme near my home, I fetch water in under 30 minutes. It’s a big relief for me and my household. I use the water for cooking, laundry, washing house utensils and watering of my animals and vegetable garden,” Rob shares with beaming face. 

In many rural areas, pregnant women traditionally bear the strenuous and often dangerous burden of walking long distances to fetch water from unsafe sources, such as rivers or shared ponds. The rehabilitation of Jaresso water schemes and installation of taps changed Roba’s reality.

The ForAfrika improved water scheme serves more than 2,000 households from five surrounding villages in Jaresso.

Roba waters her vegetable garden.

Water crisis in rural Ethiopia

  • Approximately 58% of Ethiopia’s population does not have access to clean water, and only 11% has access to adequate sanitation services. In rural areas, access to both clean water and proper sanitation is even lower.
  • As a result of El Niño, drought has affected several parts of the country, causing ponds, wells, streams, and lakes to dry up or become extremely shallow. Many people living outside the cities rely on these shallow water sources, which are often contaminated with human and animal waste.
  • During months and sometimes years of drought, diseases spread rapidly through villages and towns. With limited water, people are often unable to bathe regularly, leading to infections. Water-borne illnesses such as cholera and diarrhea remain the leading causes of death among children under five in the country.

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