New Cisterns Hold Sweet Water in China

The Yellow River can be seen by those living in the mountains. Unfortunately, tasting its’ water is only a dream for the people of Rakuk village. For generations, the village has retrieved water from small springs or seeps located in hollows or ravines located miles down the mountain. If your family wasn’t fortunate enough to have an animal carry the water, the heavy burden was left for the women and children. Once arriving at the source, they drew from muddy and unprotected water contaminated from animals and humans that led to diseases like Diarrhea, Guinea Worm and Tuberculosis as well as eye and skin infections.

Rakuk is one of 11 villages in the Kagang area. About 1,400 Tibetan people have called this dry and barren Chinese mountainside area home for generations. Rakuk is a farming community of several hundred that grow crops such as wheat, barley, peas, potatoes and rapeseed. Animals like sheep, goats, pigs and yaks are held in enclosed courtyards.

The area only receives 14 inches of rain every year which yields little harvest. This forces family members to leave the area every summer to work as manual laborers. With such a hard life and insufficient amounts of fresh water, it is easy to see why basic hygiene and sanitation was not a priority. But the precious people of Rakuk were in for a tremendous surprise when they discovered fresh, clean water right outside their front door.

Several months ago, our Living Waters team came up the mountain bringing good news. They were going to build a cistern for every household! In a matter of a couple of months, 110 of the 185 planned cisterns were done. Rain water is collected in these tanks, allowing families to have up to a year’s worth of water right outside their front door. The arduous task of getting water is a memory. We have also taught health and sanitary education to the various villages.

Huying Wang is one of the grateful people who now have a cistern a few steps from the front door. “Our dreams have come true,” he expressed. “Your help is like sending charcoal in snowy weather.”

Yinggang Wang shared his feelings by writing, “A thousand words can not express our gratefulness. You changed our life and let us drink sweet water. When I drink the water, I will never forget you.”

You can prevent a child or adult from illness or even an early death! You can provide a family with a cistern for as little as $200. Breaking it down, just $50 can provide a lifetime of water for an individual. An average water bill for a household in the US is approximately $50 per month.

This means for just $50, or one months’ water bill you can give a child or adult the gift of a lifetime of clean water. You can also choose to help an entire village for only $1,000. Your gift will be used to dig a well and install a pump or build cisterns.