When Integrity Worldwide visited Bishop Moses’ diocese in Meto, Kenya, January 2009, one of their tasks was to oversee the drilling of a well. Stephen Devries, president of Bedouins International, and professional photographer wrote this about the day they hit water:

“I’ve never in my life experienced something like the digging of the well in Meto. Not only was it just a beautiful sight… the water shooting 60+ feet into the air and catching the reflection of the early afternoon sun… but it was a powerful sight… watching water erupt from a parched land… a place that’s been in drought for 15 months. A population that’s lost 50% of it’s cattle in under 2 years. But the thing is… they didn’t even cheer. There was no excitement, no jumping up and down or running in the mist. At first I was a little disappointed to be completely honest. The most we got from them was a quick shuffle away from the direct stream.  But as I talked to people I began to realize that what I mistook for lack of concern was sheer and total awe.  These people stood there in silence as they realized that for the past 2 years their cows had been dying… they’d been walking miles upon miles for water… trying to nurse dehydrated babies when they were dehydrated themselves… and it was right below them the whole time. They stood there not knowing what to do… now… finally…they can drink in their village. Whenever they want. They don’t have to rely on water from across the Tanzania border that comes and goes… they don’t have to send donkey water trains to the river miles away… they don’t have to collect the run off from their homes in cisterns. They can walk to the well in their own village. Fresh, cold, clear and clean… they have water.  It was an amazing day for us… and a historical day for Meto.”

To see more of Stephen’s posts and photographs from this trip, visit his blog at http://www.bedouinsinternational.org/blog/

To read more about Integrity International’s work in Meto, see their blog at http://integrityworldwide.wordpress.com/