“The wall of our well used to crumble, and we would have to dig it out,” said Endres Yesuf. “I would have to lift the water from the well, and my wife, Marima, would walk the water to the crops. It would take us a week to water every plant.”
ORDA, through our Agricultural Development program, helped the Yesuf family reconstruct their well and provided one-third of the money (about $150 USD) toward purchasing a rope pump. For the remaining cost of the pump, ORDA helped set up a micro-loan which the Yesuf’s will pay back over 3 years.
The rope pump is seven times more efficient at delivering water to the crops than the Yesuf’s previous method.
“Thanks to the rebuilt well and the pump from ORDA, we save a lot of labor,” said Endres. “I can now water my plants daily, and I’ve been able to plant more and harvest three times per year because of the efficiency. Best of all, we can now send all of our children to school because they don’t have to spend all day fetching water.”
The Yesuf’s, who grow mangos, papayas, oranges, garlic, tomatoes, pepper and bananas on their .75 hectare of land, say having more food has improved their health.
“Previously, I used to buy all the food we needed or as much as I could afford.” said Endres. “Now, we consume food we’ve grown and I sell the rest at the market. With the income, I can construct a tin roof for our house. I dream of eventually buying a car.”