Ireen’s Red Bucket

I am not just any bucket.

I am 9-year-old Ireen’s red bucket.

Every morning, before the sun rises, Ireen picks me up with her small hands. Together, we begin our journey – down the rocky path, through the thorny bushes and up the steep hill.

I know every inch of this route. I swayed with her as she stumbled, felt the heat of the sun, and listened to her quiet sighs when the water we bring back is murky and brown.

“I’m afraid of this water because I know that worms are going into my body,” Ireen says.

Ireen and many children in the village grow weak and sick from the dirty, contaminated water they rely on.

I am her lifeline, but also her burden. When I am empty, I am light and easy to carry, but once I am full, I weigh her down with 9 litres of water on her small head.

“It makes my neck hurt,” she says.

She still persevered on making this trip three to four times, walking over 6 km every single day. I wish I could tell her to rest, to go to school, to dream. But I am just a bucket, I feel sad that I cannot take away her struggles.

“When I miss school, I feel sad,” she says.

The hours spent fetching water could have been spent learning to read and write or playing with her friends.

This was not just Ireen’s life but that of her mother, her grandmother and her great-great-grandmother. Trading their days and dreams for water.

Then, one day, everything changed.

The sound of machines roared through the village – a sound I had never heard before. The sound of drilling filled the air. The drillers tried on three different places over several days. On the fourth attempt, a miracle happened. Clean water burst forth from the dry ground, sparkling in the sunlight. The village erupted in dancing and singing.

World Vision had been digging a borehole to bring clean water from an underground water source. For the first time, I felt clean and I was filled with clear water.

Now, I only take a few steps with Ireen because the borehole is near her home. I no longer spend as much time with Ireen but it makes me happy when I see her smile.

“I can go to school every day. I feel happy, like I can finally dream again,” Ireen says.

Find out more about our work to:

Provide Clean Water & Sanitation to children around the world – wherever they call home.

Give children clean water through Child Sponsorship

It’s More Than Water. It’s Life.