Safe water from constructed wells

From the 11 water wells JEN constructed in
Chaparhar District in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, people are getting
safe water of about 100 liters per person a day on average. Family members per
household altogether fetch about 200 liters one time with jerrycans as in the
photo. They go to the wells several times a day.

The global standard about the quantity of
water per person a day during emergency is 7.5 – 15 liters. This merely covers basic
drinking, personal hygiene and cooking needs. So 100 liters is well above it
and enough. On the other hand, the average quantity of consumption per person
a day in Japan is 375 liters, more than triple of the
amount people we supported are getting.

People are saying, “Children used to be
busy fetching water but can now have time for school and playing”, “We can save
money since we no longer have to buy water”. We are happy and proud to be of
help.

But Chaparhar is not free from safety, either.
A very saddening, unfortunate incident happened in which some water well
beneficiaries were involved and killed in a crossfire between the government
and an armed opposition group. Many people stayed away from home and returned
to find they have to start their new life from scratch. We helped them meet one
of their basic needs. I sincerely condone those victims and wish they’d rest in
peace and strongly hope people will resiliently survive in spite of
difficulties.