Posted by Bethany
N Village*, Sri Lanka
When a woman made sure the the GHNI Sri Lanka team, “Thank them,” she really meant it! It is because of generous hearts, people willing to get up and go to the hidden and hurting on a Partner Trip, and the hard work of a village in Transformational Community Development, that we get to hear exciting stories like this one.
“We spoke to the lady in the picture who lives in Block No. 2. She is Mudi Amma from a different village. After her marriage some years back, she came to live in N Village. She is 55 years old and has 2 children. Her daughter is married and also has 2 children. They all live in the same house.
“Mudi Amma is widowed. She was rather shy to talk to us, but we got her into a conversation. She said that once Block No. 1 got the water she thought, ‘That’s it. There won’t be a water supply for us.’ I asked her why she thought so.
“She told me, ‘Many people comes and do half of the job and then leave.’ She told me she felt we would be the same and as the months went by, her thought turned into reality.
“When she checked with the water committee they said, ‘Very soon’ but nothing happened.
“However, she told us that to her surprise, ‘one day the TCD Water Committee said that the materials for the supply would be purchased that day as the GHNI team had come to the village.’ “The Water Committee also wanted those who live in Block No. 2 to help carry the items to mountain top. ‘We were so happy that all of us help carry the material to the mountain top. The Water Committee was busy laying piping and tanks with us. The project of supplying water to all the houses was completed fast.’
“Then she opened the tap and there was very high water pressure coming out. With a big smile on her face she said, ‘Never have we got water with such pressure.’ She said that the taps are now fixed at each door step which is very convenient.
“She was so excited that she spoke in Tamil which was not very familiar to us. With the little Tamil that I understand, she was thanking God. Then she thanked GHNI and the Partner Team that came from Hawaii. She referred to them as the ‘white people.’
“’Please let them know that we think of them and thank them for providing funds to let us have clean water for drinking and the preparation of food.’
“Then, with another smile, she thought of her neighbours and asked when they will be getting water as that is the last block. She reminded us that we are not finished. Our reply was that we hope to soon receive funds to give them water. We left with a smile and waving of hands telling her that we will be back next month.”