Our first round of water wells in West Africa had completed in November 2019 and Rumel was on hand to see the beneficiaries first hand. It’s amazing what we can do when we all come together. Lives have been transformed. The daily routine prior to these wells being installed would consist of an 8km walk to the local river to get dirty, contaminated water for daily drinking. Bathing was often overlooked as the water was scarce. Bathing would often be done once a month; often bus drivers would refuse to take them on board due to the strong body odour. Mali has a hot climate with average temperatures reaching around 40 degrees C.
The Aydin Foundation water wells have helped to allow families to have a direct source of clean, safe water almost on their doorstep. It has allowed families to grow crops for themselves and also sell on too.
Please continue your donations, fundraising and awareness campaigns; access to clean drinking water is a human right, and the Aydin Foundation plans to deliver this, each country at a time.
After a successful crowdfunding campaign and raising over £20,000 in donations, it was time to carry out our first set of projects. The projects as set out were to build 15 deep water wells dotted around remote villages and conduct the ‘Gift of Vision’ eye camp in Bangladesh. All the planning was done in London and on 20th March 2019, we set off on our first journey to Bangladesh to see where all your generous donations will be used.
The plan always was to see the lives changed by The Aydin Foundations projects. The most needed locations for these water wells were scouted based on specific criteria. The aim was to help those in desperate need of clean water.
Our researchers identified key remote villages and spoke to those who had no access to clean water; who’d travel for miles just to be drinking out of dirty lakes. Each water well was designed to help over 20 families and provide access to clean drinking water for at least 40 years.
The locals were thrilled upon hearing the news of a water well being built by The Aydin Foundation in there village. Work had started on 6th March 2019 with the intention to complete most of the wells by the end of March. Excavations were deep at some places, reaching up to 800 feet. We specifically instructed the deep water wells as these have a longer life span then conventional wells. The plaques were designed and feedback was received from the local villagers who were often in tears of joy.
One particular water well benefited a household where the bread winner was a blind man who needed constant looking after. His name was Hafiz Jahidur islam and was an Imam for the local mosque who had memorised the Quran just by listening to it. Jahids home is in a remote part of Sylhet, Bangladesh where it’s inaccessible by car. The water well built here would serve the desolate villagers for at least 35-40 years and it was one of the deepest we’d built at close to 800 feet.
Upon visiting these completed water wells; together with the project coordinator, we had provided detailed information about safe water practises and how to avoid water borne diseases. The clean water project built 15 deep water wells in remote parts of Bangladesh, all thank you to your donations.
