The Bush Fire

By now, you’ve seen the kind of incredible progress the village of Malith has made. Watching our Water Changes Everything video that was posted earlier this week, it’s hard to remember that Malith was once barely surviving.

In fact, during Treana Peake’s assessment trip to the village to determine where the water well would be drilled and to introduce our organization to the village members, there was a startling reminder of just how fragile life had been for Malith.

Just as Treana was wrapping up a video, a bush fire was very quickly tearing through the bush behind the site in which our team was filming.

“We were trying to figure out what the crackling sound was, when a villager stopped our interview and told us we must move quickly as the fire will soon be upon us,” Treana said.

“I stood in the field for a moment listening as the fire moved closer, thinking that it wasn’t fair, that this community has been through enough.  But in cases like this, you very quickly realize that some things are beyond our control.”

As you can see, minutes later the fields were completely wiped out by the fire. In the middle of the dry season, these fires move quickly and take down the much needed crops as they roll through the bush.

Fortunately, help was soon on its way.

With the drilling of one of our water wells, the community rebounded astoundingly quickly. They not only had the clean water source they desperately needed, but they also got to work quickly restoring their agriculture and the remaining gardens they had.

During our field project managers’ trip there last week, they reported that Malith’s gardens were beginning to flourish again.

With their most basic resource, community members can quickly adapt, move forward and overcome what comes their way.

With water, the realities of living in South Sudan don’t necessarily need to be burdens.