In 2017, Access Life Bali partnered with the village of Munduk Juwet in West Bali to provide water to their community. The water project took a long time to get started. Heavy rains in the area made access to the water source difficult. Initial work to enclose the water source was completed when the rains let up. The community then began the hard work of running nearly 2,000 meters of pipe through dense forest, steep cliffs, and a rocky river. Many parts of the pipe run also needed to be a trench to be made in order for the pipe to be safely buried. It was difficult work.
The pipe was completed and connected to the community’s existing pipe network, and the results were better than we had estimated or hoped for. The water output is very good, despite the elevation differences between the water source and the community. Now every home in the community has running water in their homes. This represents a tremendous improvement from the community’s previous dependence on water from rice field runoff.
There was an older woman in Munduk Juwet had one outdoor tap at her home. In the months prior to the project beginning there, staff from ALB visited her home. We would check her tap to see if there was any water available, and if there was, to check the quality as well. At each of those visits, there was no water available, the tap was always dry. There were also two barrels at her home that were always empty.
After the project was completed, we did follow up visits to many of the homes in Munduk Juwet to make sure that water pressure was good and that distribution was equitable throughout the village. When we visited this woman’s home, she quickly made us go and try the tap. When we turned on the faucet, cold clear water was gushing out. She offered us drinks while commenting about how good the water tasted, how it was always cool and refreshing. She encouraged us to wash our hands and face in the water. Then she showed us the two barrels. What was always two empty barrels was now two barrels full of clear water.
It was so encouraging for our team not just to see how she had access to water, but it was also just as encouraging for us to hear the pride evident in her voice when she talked about “Munduk Juwet’s” water. It was theirs. The people of Munduk Juwet took ownership of it as the project was being completed, and that sense of ownership and pride continued on, even down to the sweet old ladies who had never built a tank or connected a pipe.
Another really clear example of positive impact of this water project is seen was in the children’s legs in Munduk Juwet. Many of them had evidence of the various skin problems that go along with limited access to water. After the project was completed and there was plenty of water, the children’s skin issues really cleared up and improved. We hope this water project will continue to provide improved health to this village for years to come.