Bambili:15-Year-Old Girl Goes Hungry To Safe Community From Water Crisis

By Colbert Gwain

Kewoh Cynthia Faith,15 years of age is a Form II student of the Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology, CCAST Bambili in Mezam Division of the North West Region. 

She was born into a peasant family some 14 years ago. Growing up, she discovered one of her obligatory household chores was to fetch water for cooking, bathing and drinking. She would trek for long distance just to get the prescious liquid.

Originally, it was an exciting exercise for young Kewoh Cynthia Faith as it gave her opportunity to commune with other children in the neighbourhood too and fro the water source. 

With population pressure, drought and uncertain climatic conditions, Cynthia Faith realized the original water source nearby was drying off and she would need to walk longer distances to fetch water for her personal and family use.

When the Bambili Cultural and Development Association under the determined leadership of Eric Adangfung who doubles as Director General of the Upper Noun Valley Development Authority, UNVDA, announced a fundraiser for a giant water project harnessed from Lake Bambili capable of supplying water to all the homes in the community at an affordable cost, little Cynthia Faith decided to begin saving her lunch money in school for the water project. 

Kewoh Cynthia Faith 

For the weeks running up to last Saturday December 4, 2021, Cynthia starved herself in school to save for the water project.

With dried lips and a famine look on her face, Cynthia Faith left school last Saturday and rushed first to the event venue at the esplanade of the Bambili Fon's palace, to make sure her dream of contributing to the realization of the water project became a reality.

With her school bag trapped to her back, she made her way straight to the makeshift fundraising secretariat to announce her widow's mighty might.

To the amazement of all and sundry, Cynthia Faith's 500FCFA, an equivalent of $1, accumulated over the weeks prior to the fundraiser, was announced. 

The announcement that turned into excitement mixed with sympathy caused many well-wishers to spontaneously launch a Special support fund towards Cynthia Faith scholarship, amounting to over 80000FCFA. With her 500, plus 10000 support, her water basket came up to 10500FCFA.

Cynthia And Mum

By the end of event, a total of 77 million out of the projected 600 million FCFA was raised, to the satisfaction of Cynthia Faith and many girls in the Bambili community, who would soon see problems of water a thing of the past, given that water is life.

Cynthia Faith is not alone. Most children, especially girls in the Bambili community and by extension, other communities in Cameroon walk an average of 3.7 miles a day in search of clean water sources. 

This is time that could have been spent revising notes, doing homework, going to school, caring for family members or generating income. 

The situation is more pathetic in the two English Speaking Regions of Cameroon as children could be cut down by a bullet to and fro fetching water.

This has been a worrisome situation for Cynthia Faith who lost the father some time ago and today has to assist the mother at home before going to school or after school each day for the family to make ends meet.

It should be recalled that although water is a basic human need, every day, 2.1 billion people across the world still wake up each morning without access to clean, drinking water, 3.4 million people die each year from scarce and contaminated water sources. 

Millions of women and children spend 3-6 hours each day collecting water from distant and polluted sources. 

At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to clean water. 

It is this situation that Cynthia Faith had to sacrifice her food money to avoid for her generation and generations to come.

Living on less than $1 a day, Cynthia Faith's family could not afford the expensive cost of connecting water to their home  from the National Water utility Cooperation, SNEC, whose capacity was intended to service a Bambili community of less than 15000 inhabitants following the 2015 census. 

Today, a fast growing University community with over 19000 student population and with Bambili town's population now estimated at 29000 inhabitants, the issue of having an additional and sustainable water supply source is more acute, and has been a permanent preoccupation of young Cynthia Faith, who goes late to school most days of the week, as she would spend time trekking to fetch water for bathing, cooking, and drinking for the family.