Bagauda community in Kano state has partnered Women Farmers Advancement Network, WOFAN, to construct and commission a school borehole to sustain access to water in the school and community.
There was jubilation in Bagauda, Bebeji LGA of Kano State recently as water flowed again from the community water point inside Bagauda Primary School years after the water point had become.
The water point, which was earlier constructed by WOFAN in 2012 has just been rehabilitated by WOFAN groups in the community.
The borehole had been a major source of potable water for the school and members of the community. However, when it had a major technical fault beyond the community maintenance level some years ago, the community could not fix and many community members struggled to get clean water for domestic use. Children had to trek for kilometers to a neighboring community to get water, missing school as a result on numerous occasions.
This was the scenario until the women groups formed by the WOFAN ICON Project decided to do something about the situation.
Using skills obtained through group dynamics training and capacity building sessions organized by WOFAN ICON, they taxed themselves and also raised money by reaching out to other members of the community to rehabilitate the borehole in the school so that the children and members of the community can again have access to safe drinking water.
Speaking on the feat, which all community members are praising as unprecedented, Rafaatu Salisu, the leader of the Women Cluster in Bagauda thanked WOFAN’s Executive Director, Hajia Salamatu Garba for her mentorship which she said has now made the women strong pillars of the society in Bagauda.
“As a result of the WOFAN ICON Project and Hajia Salamatu’s mentorship, we were able to form very strong groups. And now that we have rehabilitated the water source in the community, we have a new image. Everybody now respects us as groups and as individuals. Our voices can now be heard loud and clear in the community”, Rafaatu said with a very bright smile.
She advised the school to make good use of the run-off water by starting a garden at the water point to put the run-off water to use instead of allowing it mess up the environment. This, she said, is good water management which will not only boost climate smart food and nutrition activities but will, according to her, “conserve water and conserve life.”
The ICON Project, which is funded by the MasterCard Foundation (MCF), was initially implemented in four states and is now being implemented in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau States and the FCT. One of the main strategic focuses of the intervention is to improve the economic standing of women and give them a voice in socio-economic activities.
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