Reportages of Balkh region III: Drinking water

When you ask the girls at Bibi Khadija school for girls which water you can drink, they all answer: only from a pump water well. And if there is no pump water to be found then we take the water from the river and we boil it before drinking. It is great that these girls have basic hygienic knowledge. It is also great that their home village has clean drinking water, because in the last few years the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan has built 20 drill wells in Sholgara – one of which is found in the girl school's yard. They have also built some public toilets; toilets are a luxury that only a tenth of Afghan families have.
Only a sixth of the population has access to clean drinking water. Pump water wells are very expensive to build and very few have their own well. This is why usually natural water sources are used for drinking water. If basic hygiene is not practiced like boiling the water before drinking it or washing hands then disease is very easily spread. Half of the causes of death of children under the age of five is diarrhea. The building of pump water wells, the informing of the importance of washing hands on popular radio shows and the teaching of hygiene to children in schools certainly helps the reduction of the spread of disease.
The new shinny pump water wells are striking from a far in Sholgara village. Fetching water is usually the youngsters’ job in Afghanistan, which is why you usually meet large numbers of children around the wells. Everyone carries the water in their own manner, whether by donkey, by canister, by cart or by jug. And a little fun can always be had – whether it be chatting or running around.