As one of the last remaining animist tribes in the world, the tribal people of South Sudan value cows above all else. They provide milk for food, and in a society that has little use for money, a family’s wealth is stored in cattle. The number of cows a family owns determines their worth and standing in society, and people have been known to die before selling a precious cow to pay for health care.

For young boys, the camps are an education of sorts, where they learn the skills necessary for their traditional way of life, such as cow herding or how to burn cow dung to keep away insects and use the residual ash as a skin protector. They also learn how to make a paste from ash, dirt, and cow urine, and spread it over the cows to prevent insects from biting the cattle.

The camps are rough settlements: full of dust and fire, teeming with cattle, manure and insects. People sleep on the ground under the stars or buried in manure and dirt alongside the bonfires with only their heads poking out. Long surrounded by controversy—80% of the internal conflict in South Sudan can be attributed to the cattle camp raids, which are part of tribal tradition. Herdsman will protect their cattle to the death, and young men must be part of a successful raid before being made a full adult member of the camp. During the dry months from November to May, tensions can rise even more as camps compete for prime grazing land and limited water sources.

With the recent referendum, a new way of life may soon take hold in South Sudan—the future of cattle camps is uncertain. In a number of years, life in the cattle camps may be a thing of the past.

For millions of people access to safe drinking water has only just become a reality. This life changing development is possible when a water well is installed in their village.

Wells equipped with hand pumps are among the simplest of community water supply technologies. Compared with electric or diesel pumps, hand pumps require substantially less financial resources, are far easier to maintain and less likely to break down. Hand pumps use human power and the mechanical advantage of a lever to lift water up from a borehole drilled deep into the ground. In South Sudan deep beneath the ground there is a bountiful supply of clean water it is just accessing it that is the hard part.

We are using the India Mark 2, which is the largest selling hand pump in the world and is the backbone of community water supplies in villages across Africa. This pump is designed for heavy-duty use in communities of 300 persons or more and for depths of up to 80 meters.

Installing a borehole equipped with a hand pump is a 6-stage process.
*Click thumbnails to enlarge images.

	1. Site Selection Selecting the site of the borehole carefully minimizes the risk of a dry or low yielding well and ensures the needs of the community are met. At this time a community water committee is formed. These five people, at least two of which should be women, will ensure the area around the well is fenced, kept clean, collect user fees and oversee any necessary repairs etc.
	2. Mobilization and Site Preparation This refers to getting the needed equipment and personnel to the job site. The distance from base, the road conditions, the availability of materials and gas and the security situation can all have a big impact on how quickly work can begin. Concurrently the community is preparing the site by clearing brush, trees and other impediments.
	3. Drilling The drilling process can take up to three days depending on the geology of the ground and the equipment being used. If a rock is hit air drills may become necessary. During drilling surface casing is often required to prevent the borehole from caving in.
	4. Casing and Completion Once drilling has been completed the well screen and casing needs to be installed and the gravel pack, grout sanitary seal and backfill placed. Small diameter gravel filters debris out of the water before it seeps into the perforated casing and is then pumped to the surface.
	5. Well Development & Pumping Test Once construction is completed the water well needs to be cleaned and developed. Cleaning involves flushing the well with chlorinated water for 4-6 hours to ensure that any contaminants introduced during the drilling process are removed. A submersible pump is lowered into the borehole to flush the system of contaminated water.Following this a pumping test and water sampling is required to verify the flow rate and water quality.
	6. Platform Casting & Pump Installation The wellhead is set into a cement platform, which is left to cure for 1 day. A 6-meter runoff trough is also cast in cement to prevent water from pooling around the wellhead and seeping back into the borehole and contaminating it. Once the platform has cured the final components of the hand pump are installed. The well is now ready to be used.

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Obakki Foundation’s Founder/Creative Director, Treana Peake was invited to speak at the United States Senate this evening for World Water Day. We would like to wish her the best, as she speaks to the worlds most influential advocates on safe water and sanitation in Africa. Please visit The World Water Day website to learn more about this years issues and initiatives.

Wells equipped with hand pumps are among the simplest of community water supply technologies. In South Sudan deep beneath the ground there is a bountiful supply of clean water; it’s just accessing it that is the hard part.

The Obakki Foundation uses the India Mark 2, which is the largest selling hand pump in the world and is the backbone of community water supplies in villages across Africa. This pump is designed for heavy-duty use in communities of 300 persons or more and for depths of up to 80 meters.

Currently, the Obakki Foundation has completed over 250 boreholes equipped with hand pumps in South Sudan. When each borehole is drilled we receive an update from our ground crew outlining project details such as region and benefactors. These reports help connect our Canadian team to the ongoing projects in Africa.

Here’s what they look like…

World-renowned photojournalist, Brian Sokol has spent the last decade in Asia documenting the conflict in the Himalayan region. His photographs have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Stern and Time Magazine. He is the recipient of National Geographic Magazine’s Eddie Adams grant and was recognized as one of Photo District News’ 30 emerging photographers to watch. Most recently Brian accompanied Obakki’s Founder and Creative Director, Treana Peake, while drilling fresh water wells in South Sudan. Click on the thumbnails below to view Brian’s photo documentation of the Obakki Foundation’s current efforts.

Since 2000, Lulu Works has provided a source of sustainable revenue for the women of Wulu. These women have long been the guardians of the Nilotica Shea Nut Tree (called Lulu in Arabic), which only grows in certain areas of the world, including South Sudan. These women convert the pure, rich oil of the Shea Nut into body butter, cooking oil and soap while offering a sustainable, local source of income for Sudanese women, their families, and their communities.

Wild-crafted, non-certified organic lulu nuts are collected and fully dried, then pounded into a mash using a large mortar and pestle called a funduk. Women push the mash through a hand-powered cold press mill that squeezes the oil from the nuts, retaining the nutritive properties and yielding a clear, lightly scented oil that transforms readily into a creamy butter. The women add beeswax and essential plant oils to convert the lulu oil into naturally pure soaps and lip balms.

Processing lulu oil not only preserves a time-honored tradition and brings income to a region where it is desperately needed, but it also provides an incentive to protect the Shea butter as a natural resource. Best of all, rather than being owned by shareholders or big investors, the women are given the responsibilities and privileges of running and owning Lulu Works.

In 2009, it was all destroyed. During major tribal conflicts, their facility was wiped out. When I visited the village of Wulu, the site was still strewn with remnants of the attack; machinery and vehicle parts litter the area where a thriving business once stood.

I spoke with 15 of the women from Lulu Works under a tukul (thatched-roof palapa). They told me of the devastation that occurred during the attack and how it was all gone in an instant, like an earthquake.

These powerful, resilient women are eager to re-build their factory. They are hoping to partner with aid organizations, but they are adamant about retaining control of the business. The Obakki Foundation is trying to facilitate this process with other groups and we have promised to help them get back on their feet. I brought home a tub of their Shea butter and it is like nothing I’ve ever tried on my skin. I hope that one day you all have an opportunity to buy Lulu Works products and support these amazing women.

They stood in front of their ruined machinery and their proud, defiant body language said it all:
We have suffered greatly as a result of war and famine, and now want to rebuild our lives and communities. We are depending on our own strengths, talents and resources. You can destroy where we work, but our dignity remains.

The Obakki Foundation bkr bottle is People Magazine‘s Green Buy of the Month. Support the drilling of water wells in South Sudan by purchasing one of these reusable glass bottles in a sleek silicone sleeve.

A quick search online defines a Leper as “a person to be avoided, ignored or despised” but in Malou, I discovered the true meaning of what it means to suffer from Leprosy, and it was none of these things.

Malou is a village of outcasts. All of the inhabitants have been shunned for being different in some way, but the majority suffer from Leprosy, a disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes and nerves. If left untreated, Leprosy can result in malformed extremities, making it difficult to carry out such essential tasks as fetching water and tending to crops.

Most specialists agree that more than 95% of the world’s population has a natural immunity to the disease and it is only contagious when a person has untreated leprosy. Once the disease has been treated, a person becomes non-infectious within a short period of time.

Unfortunately, the stigma of Leprosy remains throughout much of the world, particularly in South Sudan. A lack of education regarding the disease combined with non-existent access to medication has resulted in geographic and social isolation for those affected by it.

In Malou, people with Leprosy were banned from their local water well and sent their unaffected children to fetch water for the family. Rather than attending school, most children of Malou were walking 11 kilometres each way to access a fresh water source. Their story was brought to the attention of the Obakki Foundation and we were able to respond to their needs by providing them with a water well.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that Leprosy wasn’t a highly communicable disease, but I was worried that Malou would be a dismal, pathetic place—a place without happiness or hope. I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong.

Malou is a joyful community. For those without a home, this is the only place where they belong. The villagers are confident and extremely able. Most importantly, they are not ashamed. These people are aware of the staggering challenges they have overcome; rather than feeling humiliated or incapacitated, they celebrate their lives as a beautiful expression of being human, and a strong one at that!

My afternoon in Malou was incredible—as I sang and rejoiced with the villagers, I knew that my first visit would not be the last. On our way out of the village, one of the Sisters of Mercy quietly whispered, “Evil prospers where ignorance is abundant and nowhere is it more abundant than here.” As I walked away, I was certain that I was leaving with more than when I arrived.