Water for Batibo

Hello,

My name is Colette Tebong-Hosel, and I am currently working as a nurse in many capacities in the Baltimore, Maryland, area. I am starting a campaign to build borehole water wells in my hometown of Batibo. Batibo is a small village in the Northwest Province of Cameroon that has been devastated by civil war and left people with no access to clean water. During one of my conversations with my village cousin, I learned that they had been struggling with water issues ever since the war broke out and displaced everyone, including the people in charge of the local water supply. However, people have since returned, even though the war continues. Schools have resumed and life is getting back to "normal,” but the people in charge of the water system have not come back in the five years since the destabilization, leaving Batibo in dire need of a water supply.

Initially, I had heard that it costs about $2,000 to build a well, so I was going to take it on myself and put one in, but upon further inquiry and talking directly to companies that do this work, I was given quotes upwards of 4.5 million CFA, or roughly 8,000 dollars. Boreholes are cheaper in areas where the equipment is readily available, the waterbed is not as deep, and there is relative calm. Batibo is unfortunate in that it is situated in the highlands of Northwest Province, and to make it worse, it is considered the epicenter of the civil unrest. Prices have doubled for everything, making life almost impossible for the locals. There is hardly any electricity, and now there is a water crisis. Children are staying away from school or showing up late due to the need to collect water for household chores, washing up, giving to their farm animals, and so on. Most people with financial means have left for good, leaving behind those who have no ability to mobilize in any meaningful way. It is for this reason that I am asking the GoFundMe community to help me do something as basic as give the people of Batibo hope by giving them access to clean water.

Please help donate whatever you feel moved to donate, and if more money is collected, more wells will be built.100% of the money collected will be spent to build the borehole, with solar panels added to run the pump.

I encourage you to look up Batibo, Cameroon, to learn more about my people, my culture and see even more beautiful images, many of them posted by our very own Njei Moses Timah, PharmD.

Thank you