June 11, 2012 issue
Better lives spring from wells
Pennsylvania church supports Drilling for Life water program in Kenya
By Sheldon C. Good Mennonite World ReviewPage:
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Some people living in villages across Kenya must walk for hours every morning to get clean drinking water. Just one water well can improve the lives of thousands of people.
A Kenyan man uses a well-drilling rig to develop a well in early 2012. The water from the well in a village in northeastern Kenya is splashing out at 20 gallons per minute. — Photo by Photo provided by Ron Weaver
A well-drilling rig purchased in used condition about five years ago by the Drilling for Life ministry is now in disrepair and needs to be replaced.
The rig has produced nearly 200 wells, each of which benefits anywhere from 300 to 3,000 people. Five Kenyan men operated the rig.
Drilling for Life operates under the direction of a board of five men from Weaverland Mennonite Church in East Earl, Pa.
Board member Eugene Snader of East Earl returned in April from a trip to Kenya, where he met with families who have benefited from the well or who desperately need clean water.
“The rig has been breaking down, and there’s so much of a need for wells,” Snader said. “We need another rig.”
Drilling for Life could get about $50,000 by selling the rig. But the rig they are considering buying costs $300,000.
Weaverland Mennonite Church takes an offering once a year for the ministry, which hosted a father-son banquet in March. Donation information is at www.drillingforlife.org.
Snader, who got involved with Drilling for Life more than five years ago, said he never imagined helping with well-drilling in Kenya could impact him like it has.
“I’ve been blessed so much by this,” he said. “Each time you come back you have a greater desire to see what you can accomplish.”
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