AFRICA/TOGO - Four new wells to provide drinking water and irrigate the land during periods of drought

Kong (Agenzia Fides) - In the city of Kong, in Togo, with the help of missionaries and farmers, in a short space of time 4 new wells were built to provide drinking water to residents and to irrigate the land in times of drought. It was possible to carry out this project through the efforts of the Salesian missionary Don Antonio Gutierrez and the availability of local farmers. Along with five different groups of people who had requested the construction of wells, the missionary visited the places where they wanted to build them. It was not possible to realize only one of these, because the group asked a well to extract drinking water near the houses, but this type of wells need particular characteristics that require several weeks of work, that farmers cannot afford, as they risk the loss of their crops. "When I became aware of their availability, the missionary said in a statement released by the agency Ans, I told them we had a week's time. On Tuesday afternoon they met and on Wednesday they began working in four different points, very distant from each other: on Thursday there were already two wells for irrigation, where water flowed, while the other 2 emerged on Friday ". "I think it is a very rewarding experience for them to see the effectiveness of a job well organized and gives me great joy to see that this year we dug 24 wells in the dry season. This determines, moreover, that women have better access to water and can cultivate the gardens near home in the dry season", concluded the Salesian missionary. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/06/2011)