In the Hanga region of Kibiti, Tanzania, the sky stretches wide over the humble brick houses and red dirt roads of Nyambwanda. Shining brightly amid the sky’s calming blue, the sun casts its gaze on a well that steadily pumps water into a green bucket. Beside this bucket, a woman patiently waits, rejoicing in the new life that flows through her village.
The people of Nyambwanda, a community of nearly 4,000, now experience the immeasurable joy of having access to clean water just a few hundred metres from their homes.
But life in Nyambwanda was not always this way.
Before Global Aid Network (GAiN) provided a deep-capped water well for this village, women and children couldn’t simply wait for water. Instead, every day, they had to make a difficult 2-kilometre journey to a local swamp in the valley below their village.
The return trip was even more challenging, as they had to carry heavy containers of water up a steep hill. And after this exhausting, time-consuming effort, the water they would bring back was not even safe to drink. Rather than giving them life, this polluted water gave them only sickness and death. Yet it was all they had.
During the dry seasons, the villagers supplemented their meagre water supply by collecting surface water and rainwater. Over the years, however, rainfall became increasingly sparse and intermittent, progressively making the area drier. As water sources diminished, the tiring trek for contaminated water seemed preferable to having none at all.
Today, because of their well, the people of Nyambwanda no longer have to choose between unclean water or insufficient water. Now they have abundant access to clean water—right in their village!
Shortly after installing the well, our GAiN team trained 63 members of Nyambwanda in how to properly maintain the functionality of the well. Following this training, the village organized a water committee, choosing seven people to oversee the sustainable use of the well. Equipping and empowering local communities like this with the resources and knowledge to become independent owners of their unique economies is an integral part of GAiN’s mission.
The presence of a clean water source in Nyambwanda softened people’s hearts, opening them to the love of God. The well gave the people of Nyambwanda new life and, like the water from the well, this spring of new life now surges through them—physically and spiritually.
Notably, the villagers’ physical health benefits extended beyond having clean drinking water, as closer access to safe water improved the local clinic’s ability to treat urgent needs. Villagers’ overall health was further strengthened by door-to-door gospel outreach and JESUS Film showings. Agnes Mtebe, a woman from the community, shared her testimony: “When I witnessed the movie [about] Jesus, I saw how He lived a life of holiness and sacrificed himself for others. I could not help but cry, feeling a great love that I had not experienced before. I returned home with a heart of repentance and began a new journey. Today I have become a youth leader in the church, and I advise others to be God-fearing. That movie was the beginning of my new life.”
After this gospel outreach, GAiN partnered with a neighbouring church to help plant a church in Nyambwanda. Today, there is a thriving body of 46 members.
Pastor Fabian Martin said, “Throughout this ministry, we have witnessed something wonderful happening…”.
At GAiN, we desire to see people thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually within flourishing communities. To this end, our mission is to reveal hope by sharing God’s unconditional love and restore life by demonstrating the gospel through compassionate action to those living in poverty, injustice, and crisis around the world.
Our dream is to see even more people experience this holistic body-soul-and-spirit transformation that comes when safe water and the message of Jesus Christ are introduced into their communities. Will you join us to help make this dream a reality?
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