Migisha is a two-year-old boy living in Raro Village, a community (combined with one other village nearby) of 415 households in Rwanda. Migisha used to travel twice a day up and down a mountainside on his mother’s hip or back while she collected water from a spring that is situated an hour walk below her village.

The only water source available to his mother and other community members was contaminated. Thus, when she traveled back up the mountainside, she carried Migisha and 40 pounds of dirty water. As soon as Migisha became old enough to walk and carry water too, he would have become responsible for making these trips both with and without his mother. This would have potentially kept Migisha out of school and away from a childhood free from waterborne disease.

This year, Migisha’s mother worked alongside fellow community members and Blood:Water’s local Rwandan partner, MOUCECORE, to dig a two-mile pipeline for a clean water project funded through our donor’s generosity. It’s no easy feat to dig a pipeline, but village members know they play a central role in creating sustainable solutions that will continue to be viable throughout the lifetime of their children, like Migisha, and beyond.

Clean water is now being piped into individual tap stands throughout this mountainous region, and one of these stands is a few steps from Migisha’s home. This is the first time clean water is readily available to his family and others living nearby. Migisha’s life course has been completely changed by the availability of clean water thanks to our generous donors and the work of our partner. No longer will his future hold the responsibility of making long trips and missing school. He will now have a childhood free from waterborne illness and live a healthier and happier life!