By Abdullateef Abdullateef (YES 2016-2017, Nigeria, placed by AFS in San Antonio, TX)

While I was an exchange student in the U.S., I participated in many community service projects and accumulated more than 100 hours of community service. I also gave 60 presentations about my home country. Although I had a tight class schedule at Alamo Heights High School and participated in sports from cross country and track to soccer, I still managed to be an avid volunteer in my host community. My exchange experience taught me the gift and joy of giving back to one’s community.

In my community of Alagbado, located in Kabala West, Kaduna State, the water system does not work. Even with urbanization, the population of over 3,000 people, primarily low-income families, has no easy access to a clean water supply. Young people, like myself, must walk long distances to collect water far from our homes, exposing us to the danger of busy roads just to get clean water. Although some families have wells at their homes and allow neighbors access to collect water, it’s not always possible as the electricity needed to pump the water is not always available. Students must either travel long distances or wait for power, resulting in them missing school. To address this issue, I applied for a YES Alumni Grant to drill a borehole and establish a well with a hand pump that does not depend on electrical power to make collecting water easier in my community.

The borehole was drilled at a strategic mid-point in the community. After the well was set up, the community was trained on how to use and maintain the handpump as well as on the importance of water sanitation, how to properly store water, and keeping the environment clean to prevent the spread of communicable diseases into our water system.

We estimate 450-500 people collect water for their families from this borehole daily, impacting every member in the community. Residents now have access to clean water close to their homes every day, and children can get to school early knowing they can easily get water to do their house chores whenever they return home. In our post-project interviews with community members, many of them commented on how much they used to suffer trying to get water daily and how overjoyed and grateful they are to the sponsors of the project.

This project has been a learning experience for me. I learned so much about project management, public speaking, valuing my teammates, and, of course, about drilling boreholes. 

I want to give thanks for the support of the YES program and the funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for this project. I also want to thank IRIS and other YES staff for their endless support and patience. And a big thank you to the leaders of my community for their never-ending support and to my amazing YES alumni teammates and volunteers for working effortlessly to make this project a success.