Yimdi is a small rural village on the outskirts of the capital city of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. It is located about 5 kilometers off the main Ouagadougou road and is accessible through a mud feeder road. It is home to over 350 children who live at the Children’s Village of Hope. The children are almost exclusively from very remote rural villages hundreds of kilometers from Ouagadougou. They are brought, with the permission of their families, to live at the village in order to receive an education. Without this opportunity they would never learn to read or write as there are typically no schools in their villages and they are often the first community members to receive a formal education. The Children’s Village of Hope is run by a local church, pastored by Rev. Michel Ouedraogo who has long been burdened for the children of marginalized areas of Burkina Faso. This church, located between two very large Mosques is a shining light to the community that surrounds it. Despite being located in an impoverished area of Ouagadougou, and with a congregation that is far from wealthy, they have managed to build (over a period of 6 years) a large church facility completely debt free. They have also opened and support a local medical clinic that provides good low cost medical care to the poor and also help support, through special offerings, the daily operational budget at the Children’s Village of Hope. The Children’s Village has a primary school, high school, dorms, dining and meeting hall, administrative building, medical clinic, working farm and vocational school. Many of the buildings have been constructed with the help of ERDO and other NGO’s who have recognized the church’s deep desire to minister to the communities and country around them. ERDO has worked with the Ouedraogo’s and their church’s community care team since 1999 providing various feeding programs, medical supplies, childcare plus and community development projects in support of the church’s vision of reaching their community for Christ.
Before the Living Waters Church provided the funds for this new well, it was a struggle for the both the children and the staff of the Children’s Village. The village site is quite large (over 100 acres) and the initial borewell drilled in the early 2000’s has been pumping at capacity for several years. As the village has expanded and dormitories and the 3 schools have been built, the amount of water available was no longer enough to adequately water the kitchen gardens or provide a steady flow of clean water to the vocational school, boys dorm, medical clinic and staff housing. The borehole provided by Living Waters Church has increased the supply of safe and clean drinking water ensuring that staff and children do not have to walk long distances to procure additional water that was not always safe to drink.
Through the provision of this borewell, Living Waters has touched the lives of over 400 people and many hundreds more in the future; with the love of Christ through the practical and ongoing gift of clean water…
The Children’s Village of Hope well is:
1. Providing clean water for drinking and cooking for students and staff families
2. Providing much needed irrigation of kitchen gardens thereby increasing food production
3. Decreasing the distance that water needs to be carried by students and staff alike
4. Decreasing the possibility of outbreaks of water borne disease for all living at the village
5. Providing a source of water for the village livestock through capture of run off water
Click Here to view a video of the impact of the well on the people of Yimdi
