Adut's story

Adut Mariu smiles as her baby boy happily gulps clean drinking water. Something so simple brings her so much joy. But for a long time, Adut was forced to give her children dirty water. She knew it wasn’t safe, but she had no choice.

‘We were in desperate need,’ Adut explained. ‘To look after my children, they had to drink the dirty river water. The water has many diseases. There is cows’ dung, there is donkeys’ dung... People also wash in there.’

The River Makadh runs through Adut’s village of Biet in north-west South Sudan and was the community’s only source of water. It is dirty and unreliable; it dries up during long periods of drought and floods during heavy rainfall, rising to dangerous levels and spreading contaminated water.

No mum should have to choose between dirty water or none at all. But for a long time, that impossible choice was a reality for Adut. 

Not anymore.

Adut now has access to a borehole near her home, which means clean water for her children to drink whatever the weather  - and peace of mind for a loving mum. 

Thanks to churches like yours, Adut’s community were able to build the borehole with support from Christian Aid’s local partner, SPEDP. They drilled a narrow shaft into the ground to extract water from a naturally occurring source. Above ground, a hand pump is used to drive the water to the surface. 

Thanks to the borehole, Adut is full of hope for her family and community.

Waterborne diseases have fallen, and Adut has more time for other activities like farming. She’s also the caretaker of the borehole and keeps it in good working order.  

‘You saw the challenges in our village and lifted it up. For that, I thank you,’ Adut said. ‘These things are coming to this village. They are changing us for the better.'

The borehole is life-changing for Adut and her family, but many more mums are still forced to make impossible choices.

By including Christian Aid in your church services this Christmas you can stand with more mums around the world.