This year we were able to complete ten clean water projects before the rainy season began in June. That’s a pretty good pace for us. Water projects have grown into a key part of our incarnational evangelism efforts in Ghana over the last 15 years, but drilling can only be reliably done during the dry season from January through June. Only then can the contractor know that water found is truly ground water, not surface water that will dry up when the rains end.
During the planning phase for this year’s projects, my friend Pastor Abukari introduced me to a brilliant geophysicist and water expert named David Babatifu. David is out of our league. He is rather high-profile, meaning, he constructs large water projects for international governmental aid organizations. He’s even done water projects for Ghana’s former president (and current presidential candidate) John Mahama. As David got to know YLI he fell in love with our mission. He took on every project we had. You would think that David would be more expensive than smaller contractors but the opposite has been true.
The YLI “water team” is now made up of David and our Coach Oswin, who is extraordinarily conscientious and detail oriented. Oswin donates his time to travel with David to be my “eyes and ears” on every water project. We have even been able to return to communities where we previously were not successful in finding water because David has a knack (as well as the geological survey equipment) to find groundwater where no one else has been able to in the past. Communities that have been suffering for generations now have access to safe and clean water. David has also helped us determine which communities need more than one project so we can go back and drill a second borehole where it’s needed.
Thanks to the work and expertise of David and Oswin we believe that we will be able to complete 13 water projects in 2025. Thank you, to all of you who have donated to YLI water projects. We are only able to set such lofty goals because of your generosity. Each YLI water project is constructed in a community where a YLI leader is engaged in evangelism and discipleship. We continue to see that clean water and Living Water are intrinsically linked.
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