Christopher Tengwa, 57, lives in the Tulonga village of Sinazongwe district, Zambia. He works as a peasant farmer to provide for his family, including his 11 children.
Christopher and his family used to live in the Zambezi floodplain where the land was fertile, but the Zambian government’s construction of the gigantic Kariba Dam forced them upland where water was scarce and their only source, the Sikebo stream, would often dry up.
Every day was a challenge for Christopher and his family to find water for themselves and their livestock. They were only able to survive by digging into the banks of the stream to create shallow wells. Even then, the water they managed to find brought with it diarrhea and fostered other diseases such as trachoma, a bacterial infection that causes blindness.
Fortunately, all of that changed in 2013 when, thanks to donor support, Operation Eyesight dug a borehole in the village.
“The borehole brought positive things to my life, to my family and to the community at large,” says Christopher. “We now have clean water to wash our faces, bathe, cook and do many other things.”
In addition, community members receive ongoing education on the importance of sanitation and eye health.
“We are now likely to have a healthy village,” says Christopher. “We thank Operation Eyesight for the great services and development you have brought to this community!”