Her Hands Have Carried The Burden – This is Amina’s Story
Amina lives in a small village in Niger in a region called the Sahel. The women of this region are tasked with daily collecting unclean water for the family. This takes an incredible toll on their bodies and is completely solvable.

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Written by neverthirst
Photography & Video by Tara Shupe

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“Since I was young, I have been suffering.”

Meet Amina—her hands tell her story. The calluses remind her of the years spent carrying jerry cans from the well to her home.

“…carrying water from the well to home, walking five minutes to get there. The water we were drinking was not clean. We were just happy to drink it because it was the only water we had.

We throw buckets down into the open wells to get water. Then we pull the heavy water buckets back up by the ropes. We do this so much that our hands develop these calluses.”

Amina lives in a small village in Niger, in a region called the Sahel that is known for being hot, dry, and severely lacking in clean water. The women of this region are tasked with collecting water daily for the family.

The task of retrieving water takes an incredible toll on their bodies yet the need is completely solvable.

“We are no longer suffering now that we have water.”

Our local partners provided clean water in Amina’s village, and she says access to clean water has changed not only the women’s lives, but also the lives of the children who will grow up not knowing a world without water.

“Since I was young, I have been suffering from carrying water from the well to home. I also have to look for wood and carry it home. But now since we got a new water system, we are no longer suffering.”

“Carrying water destroyed our fingers, so now we’re more beautiful than in the past.

Since we got this new water source, our children are helping us carry water at home. In the past, we used to go by ourselves because the children didn’t know how to get water, but now the children can go for us and this really helps us at home.

As women, in our daily life we are facing some difficulties in our activities like pounding millet to prepare food, gathering wood, and fetching water from the well, so thanks be to God we have better water.

It makes our daily life much easier. We are very happy for that.”

“Here in our village, every child now attends school.”

Although Amina’s childhood looked drastically different from that of her six children, she is so happy that they each have the ability to now attend school in their village and will grow up without callused hands, tired feet, and unclean water.

“I am always thankful to God every day that we wake up with the breath of life.”

Clean and living water has changed the culture of Amina’s village in Niger and unlocked a new future for the children growing up there—children who will not only taste clean water, but experience the love of a Savior with whom they will never thirst again. 

 

We invite you to help make this a reality for more villages like Amina’s.

Stories like Amina’s are made possible through donors who chose to help carry the burden.

By giving $40/month, you can bring clean and living water to one woman like Amina and bring the gospel to a region that has a thirst water alone won’t satisfy.

Join us in reaching the unreached. Click here to start your monthly gift.

Here’s how you can get started:

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