What is a WFA Well Club?
We actually teach families to drill their own water wells which drastically reduces the cost of a water well.
It is like a "barn raising". We organize the families to work together till every family has their very own water well. It changes their lives!
This is how it works. A group of 10 Families come to our shop in a small rurual town close to where they live. They ask us for help. We lend a complete "baptist" deep well drilling outfit and if needed help them buy their well casing and pump materials. Then we go with them to their village and help them drill their first two wells. Then the club continues working on their own until every family in the "club" drills a well and makes a pump. This way only a few WFA drilling trainers can help lots and lots of families drill their own wells. In 2010 in Bolivia 4 WFA trainers helped families drill 180 wells. In 2011 182 wells. In 2012 70 wells. In Ethiopia our trainers helped 42 families drill Their own wells. These are deep wells, properly sealed that insure comminities never have to face a water crisis again.. The families are super proud of their wells and all know how to care for them. They know how to make and maintain the simple heavy duty pumps that WFA has designed to be made from locally available low cost material.
Family wells allow poor rural farmers to suddenly begin to generate extra local income from watering livestock better, to not having so much sickness, to not wasting time hauling water, to irrigating small gardens. Many eventually achieve good modest prosperity. Some groups estimate families net $200 just from owning a well. Then if livestock and gardens added can net several thousand extra dollars per year. This translates into hundreds of thousands of local dollars generated by hundreds of families helped over several years. If a family owned well eventually helps 100 families generate 1,000 dollars extra income (not hard for farmers with extra livestock and gardens) for 10 years that is one million dollars of local wealth created where it is needed most with no overhead. This is the power of farm family well ownership. In Bolivia where we have worked many years we have see family wells help countless small holder families come out of poverty.
The entire area is also insured against drought. Families begin to generate new wealth and income from gardens and livestock or brick making that the family wells make possible. We also share the Gospel in culturally sensative and appropriate ways. this is a wonderful ministry and WFA thanks all of you for helping us extend a helping hand to help families help themselves.
