For over 36 years, Gidan Goyo settlement in Amanawa community lacked access to portable drinking water. Residents trekked as far as 3 Kilometers in search of water in nearby communities where they paid as much as N50 — N100 for a 20litre jerry can of water. In 2018, this lack of access to portable water resulted in an outbreak of cholera, which led to five pregnancy miscarriages and the death of seven children in the community. The condition of the elderly with ulcer wounds worsened, resulting in amputations, while women and children became constant victims of sexual molestation due to the long trek along bush paths in search of clean water. There was also increased stigmatization of the people in the community due to association with people affected by leprosy living among them. This plight drove the community stakeholders to make several appeals to the local and state governments for help all to no avail. However, The Leprosy Mission Nigeria through its partners came through with the “Support a community to access safe water” initiative, another activity under the EDPOSD project.
This project facilitated the installation of a motorized borehole water system, which now allows the community members’ daily access to safe drinking water. The water source currently serves over 546 persons daily, which includes 87 community households of 137 adults (59 males, 78 female and 361 children) as well as 48 patients on hospital admission
According to Mallam Danyadi Muhammad, a resident and a person affected by leprosy living in the community, “I have lived in the settlement for over 35 years, our main problem over these years has been complete absence of water, which has made life tough for us because water is life but unfortunately the lack of it has opened us up to diseases and deaths. But thank God for TLM Nigeria, our situation and the stories of our children yet unborn has changed completely. The entire community is grateful to TLM Nigeria”. It is hoped that the borehole system will serve the community for the next 50 years.