On a misty Monday morning in Gashora, children hurry to school with yellow jerrycans bouncing against their legs. For years, these cans were symbols of sickness containers that carried water from a swamp that silently spread stomach infections, worms, and cholera. But today, they carry something new hope.
Three months ago, the community of Gashora opened its first cleanwater borehole, a project that changed not only how people drink but how they live. Behind the laughter of the children gathering around the new tap is a long story of struggle, pain, and remarkable transformation.
Scene Setting:A Community in Crisis
For decades, Gashora’s 3,000 residents relied on a seasonal swamp two kilometers away. During rainy seasons, the water was muddy and full of bacteria. During dry seasons, the water almost disappeared, forcing families to dig shallow holes just to find a few brown drops.
Every week, we treated at least 15 children for diarrhea,” says Nurse Alice Mukamana, a health worker at Gashora Health Post. “Some days, we even ran out of rehydration salts because the cases were too many.”
Her voice softens as she recalls losing a five-year-old boy last year due to dehydration. “It broke us. We knew something had to change.”
The Turning Point
That change began when a group of youth from the community, led by Jean Claude Nshimiyimana, wrote a proposal to a local NGO requesting support for a clean-water project. The NGO agreed, on one condition: the community had to participate in the construction.
And they did. Men cleared the land. Women carried stones and sand. Youth helped dig. Even schoolchildren collected small contributions from their weekend pocket money.
It was the first time I saw everyone working together like that,” Jean Claude says with a proud smile. “We knew we weren’t just building a borehole—we were building a future.”
Expert Insight: Why Clean Water Matters
According to Dr. Clement Nkurunziza, a public health expert in Bugesera District, clean water is the foundation of every healthy community.
When water improves, everything improves school performance, nutrition, women’s safety, and even economic productivity,” he explains.
People underestimate water, but it is actually the first medicine a community needs.
Dr. Clement notes that Gashora used to record some of the highest waterborne disease cases in the district. “If they continue maintaining the borehole well,” he says, “their health statistics will change completely within a year.”
Voices from the Community (Citizen Source)
At the borehole, Mama Chantal, a mother of four, waits with her youngest daughter. She laughs shyly when asked how life has changed.
My children have not missed school this term because of stomach pain, she says. Before, every month at least one of them was sick. Now, I don’t spend money at the health center. I save it for food.
Her daughter giggles, splashing her hands in the clean water as if it is something magical.
A group of teenage boys nearby say the borehole saved them time. Imagine two hours to fetch water, twice a day says 15-year-old Eric. Now it takes ten minutes. I have more time for football—and homework.
Data That Tells the Story
According to records from Gashora Health Post:
- Waterborne diseases have dropped by 72% since the borehole opened.
- School attendance has risen by 34% for children aged 6–12.
- Households report saving an average of 3,000 RWF per week, money previously spent on medicine and transport to the health center.
These numbers confirm what the community already feels: life is changing.
A Future Built on Clean Water
The village leadership has now formed a Water Committee to manage the borehole. Members collect a small monthly contribution from households for maintenance, ensuring the water system does not collapse like many donor projects do.
We learned our lesson,” says the village leader. This is our water. Our responsibility. Our future.
Plans are already underway to add a second tap stand closer to the school so children no longer have to leave class to fetch water.
A Story of Health, Unity, and Hope
What began as a simple wish safe water turned into a powerful story of collaboration and change. Today, when the sun sets over Gashora, families sit outside their homes knowing their children will sleep without stomach cramps, fever, or fear.
Clean water didn’t just transform their health.
It restored dignity, unity, and possibility.
As Nurse Alice watches children run past the clinic, she smiles.
Sometimes, saving a community starts with just one drop, she says. And Gashora is finally overflowing
