New Well saves an hour's hike for water

Nine year old Khanh lives with his six family members in a small village in the remote and mountains area of northern Vietnam. For over 20 years, Khanh’s family had to travel at least an hour each day to collect water from the nearest river. This is very tiring for the family who had to climb up and down hills while carrying water buckets on their shoulders.

The new well in operation

On each trip they have been able to carry only enough water for the family's cooking and drinking needs for a day. So Khanh and his family had to do their bathing and washing at the river while they were collecting the water.

Now thanks to the water and sanitation cooperation project between Plan Vietnam and Khanh's village, Khanh and his family have access to a 12 metre deep open well located next to their house. The well is shared with other families in the village so that none of them will any longer have to travel another day to collect water.

"The weight on my family’s shoulders has finally been lifted, and I can now spend more time learning and playing with my friends" said Khanh.