Fetching water used to take up my whole life. I’d be so exhausted that helping my husband in the fields was simply out of the question. But things are different now. Every morning, we walk to the fields together and return home together. Our farm has flourished, and our harvest has doubled. where we once gathered one sack of crops, we’re now bringing home two. For the first time, I actually have time to spare for everything else.

I’ve started making hand fans; some for myself, and some as gifts for my friends. I pick up my craft whenever I have a free moment; it brings me so much joy. It’s also given me more precious moments to sit and talk with my daughters. My dream is for them to finish school and become hafizahs.

Now that we have the well, I’ve even started dreaming of bigger things. Like a tractor or a mill for our village to make life even better. The only reason I can even imagine these things is because of that water well. If it hadn't been built, I’d still be spending my entire life just carrying water from miles away.

Chad, 2022