Locals give gift of clean water to Nigeria

​Locals give gift of clean water to Nigeria

By W.S Gager

 Imagine waking up at 4 a.m. and having to walk miles to find water to drink to cook or to wash? When you do find water, it is brown, 

smells funny and tastes even worse. Then flying nearly 6,000 miles across the ocean to find beautiful clear water being carelessly shooting out of sprinklers to keep the grass green.

The Reverend Father Peter Omogo, a Nigerian priest, couldn’t believe his eyes when he arrived in the United States in 2008. After a year of schooling he started working as a parish priest in...

...West Michigan. From his homilies, he would talk about his childhood and the conditions that continue today.

“One of the things that surprised me when I came to the United States is that people wasted water on their 

​​lawns. I couldn’t get over the sprinklers,” said Fr. Peter, a former priest at All Saints Church in Fremont and St. Joseph Church in White Cloud. “In Nigeria water is miles away and when you finally find water, it is not even clear.”

Several parishioners started planning to give him a well for his birthday in 2011. Two weeks before his Nov. 1 birthday, his brother died. That first well was named after his brother, Samuel, and from there more money resulted in more 

wells and the Samuel Omogo Foundation (SOF) was created to build and manage the wells. To date, more than 73 wells have been drilled in the Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria.

​Starting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, the SOF is hosting the Summer Fundraising Event at the Shack Bed and Breakfast Resort, between Fremont and White Cloud. A presentation on the wells and success to date as well as future plans will be shown. A free will 

​offering will be taken to raise additional funds for more water wells in Nigeria.

“In Nigeria we have two major seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. We have seven months of the rainy season and we have five months of the dry season. When it is dry, it is really dry and kids wake up as early as 4 a.m. to fetch water, brown water. Some of them are affected with cholera, diarrhea and typhoid. Some of them have even lost their lives,” he said.

He talks about Marge Wilson, a Wyoming businesswoman, who was instrumental in starting the foundation. “When Marge Wilson saw (the video from the first well’s dedication) one person took a glass of water from the well and make the sign of the cross before drinking. Marge said in all the days of her life she had never thanked God for a glass of water.”

Since that day, Wilson has been active in the foundation and is co-chairperson and founder. Today, the foundation reaches out to bring clean water to approximately 103,000 people whom would otherwise drink and cook using contaminated water from creeks, caves and river beds.
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“It has been a tremendous change to drill water wells in these areas. With reduced water borne illnesses, people have benefited from the wells.” Agbo Stella Ann, Mater Misericordiae Hospital Registered Nurse in Nigeria states in the SOF annual report. “Ultimately, the wells have improved their health condition. Statistics show the number of people that come to the health centers because of water borne diseases have reduced drastically.”

To attend the dinner and see how you can help, please RSVP to [email protected]. A donation can be made via the foundation website at http://samuelomogofoundation.org.
 
W.S. Gager is an award-winning mystery author who lives and writes in Fremont. Her books are available at the Artsplace in Fremont or from your favorite online retailer. For more on her writing, check out her blog at http://wsgager.blogspot.com