Success Story

July, 2009

“This summer I will not prevent my grandsons from playing outside the house,” Um Ayman said while helping her grandson wash-up after a long day of playing football in an open field in the village of Naqura. She added, “This summer everything is different. I remember spending sleepless nights waiting for water to gush out of the taps so that I would store some for our daily needs, as did the other women of the village. We used to alert each other when water was finally available.” This was not only a problem Um Ayman had faced, but a problem affecting 2,000 other residents of Naqura Village prior to USAID’s intervention through the Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure Program. USAID addressed the water shortage problem in the village through the installation of a 1,800 meter long main water pipe connecting the main reservoir in the village to the main feeder pipeline along the Jenin-Nablus road. This enabled the villagers to enjoy a continuous supply of water.

The village, located 13 kilometers northwest of Nablus Governorate, had long suffered from water shortages. Muhammed Abu Hashish, Head of Naqura Village Council, explained water scarcity by saying, “This is due to the fact that only 50% of the villagers’ daily requirements of water used to be acquired through the local spring; the rest had to be acquired from other sources. This is no longer the case. Thanks to USAID funding, we no longer receive complaints regarding water shortages, and the water cost has been minimized.” Mr. Abu Hashish added that “USAID has made the usage of facilities at the school, the kindergarten, the health clinic, the mosque and many other facilities unproblematic.” Abu Hashish concluded by saying “I can sense and see comfort in the eyes of the people here. This is the biggest achievement one can ever hope for.”

Dressed in white and handing medicine to an elderly man, Nurse Khetam Saleh said, “It’s hard to live in a house without water, let alone a clinic! Prior to USAID’s intervention, the clinic had been a chaotic space without water. Thank God, this is no longer a nightmare haunting me and my colleagues.” Ms. Saleh added, “water is vital for sanitation and hygiene; imagine the toilets of the clinic with no water for days.” The clinic of Naqura serves between 100-250 residents on a weekly basis.

Washing her children’s clothes, Najat Rageb said, “I used to fill each and every vessel, cup and anything that could hold water.” She smiled and added, “I even used to fill the tea pot with water in order to be able to drink tea the next day. It’s extremely hard to bath your children, to drink and to cook with no running water in the house.” Um Ayman, who is living with 7 other family members, concluded by saying “Thank you USAID! I will pray that water will remain available like this forever.”

This project was funded with a total budget of $88,616 by USAID and was implemented by ANERA to solve water shortage problems in the village of Naqura, has also helped create 450 employment days for workers from the village.