Clean water funded by Barnabas restores health of Cameroonian refugees

Four hundred Cameroonian Christian refugees at a camp in Chad have been provided with much-needed clean drinking water after Barnabas funded the drilling of two boreholes.

The borewells were necessary because the refugees had been drinking water from the river and unsanitary wells, resulting in many suffering from diarrhoea. With the construction of the borewells the camp was able to produce clean water and the refugee families are no longer experiencing sickness.

The Christian refugees – mostly women and children – belonging to the Mousgoum people, were initially forced to flee their region within Cameroon after attacks by Boko Haram Islamists. Then they fled again, crossing into Chad, following a further attack by the neighbouring Choa people, who are predominantly Muslim, because of a dispute over land. After three days, they arrived at a village in Chad to join 11,000 others staying in a refugee camp. 

The water source previously used comprised a few wells that were about ten metres deep which invariably dried up between March and June. So when the water was needed most, it was unavailable and the women had to risk walking a long distance from the camp just to draw water. The poor quality of the water within the wells contributed to the rise in sickness.

The new borewells are located on land just outside the camp that belongs to the local church. The church also provided space for the refugees to worship under the shade of trees.

Severe flooding affected Chad and Cameroon between June and December 2022 and  interrupted work on the project. Our partners were able to complete the work successfully once the waters receded.

The Christian refugees thanked God for “this testimony of love” demonstrated in the drilling of the boreholes.