Treana and Ryan traveled to Sudan in December to visit the Obakki Foundation projects, which are focused on making water available in this drought-ravaged country.

After 22 years of civil war, Sudan is at a historical crossroads: from January 9 – 15th, citizens in the south will vote for their independence from the north. Over 800 thousand displaced southerners have made the journey home and over 3 million additional citizens are expected to vote.

Earlier this week, the Governor of Lakes State declared a water emergency because they could not meet the needs of people arriving at voting centres; many of them had been walking for days and were desperate for water. The situation was only expected to worsen as people would be standing in line for hours in the relentless heat. The referendum will only be valid if a minimum of 60% of the population cast a ballot, which may not happen if the fundamental need of water cannot be met.

The Obakki Foundation immediately met with government officials to discuss how we could help and in the last 24-hours an emergency response plan was implemented. The Obakki Foundation has deployed 11 crews of water technicians throughout the State and released enough funding to implement 40 water pumps over the next five days.

The Governor is thrilled and grateful for the assistance, stating that the Obakki Foundation has responded to the needs of his people in the hour when their needs were most critical. He declared that the success or failure of this referendum was hanging in the balance due to the most universal and basic need: water.

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