The Deep Countryside

(The following post was written by MEDRIX Executive Director LaRelle Catherman.)

The air was thick and heavy, and the thunder rumbled.  The wind picked up and the thought of a cooling rain gave us hope for a little comfort.  But the rain did not come, and the thunder ceased, and the air remained thick and heavy.

We had surveyed 5 village Health Clinics in the mountainous area just west of Hue Vietnam.  And of the 5 Health Clinics, none of them had a GOOD water supply, and 2 had no water supply.

Can you imagine a clinic without water?  Can you imagine a clinic where the nurse or doctor have no water to wash between patients?  Can you imagine having a baby in a clinic where there are 5 covered buckets of water to be used for your delivery?  Each empty bucket will be carried to the closest water source.  The buckets will be filled with water and carried by the mid-wife back to the clinic.

The source of the water is a pipe, tapped into a mountain stream.  The pipe is protruding from the ground.  It is not capped.  It can not be turned on or off.  Imagine yourself as the mid-wife.  You must wait until the water flows and then quickly get a bucket, fill the bucket and then carry it to the clinic.  You will walk up a small path, pass 2 houses, and pig stall with a large sow and a squealing litter.  You will pass 2 mud puddles and standing sewage.  You will have to carry the heavy bucket of water 5 times and you will have to boil the water in each bucket before it can be used.

But there is hope.  Yes there is a solution!  An organization called MEDRIX is now hoping to drill a well at your clinic.  If you have a deep well you will have water year round. Your expectant mothers will not have to worry about safe water not being available for their precious delivery.  Aha, hope is so sweet.  Water is so sweet.  It is life, life for the newborn and life for the all who come to the clinic.

But the reality is neither you or I are the midwives of these clinics.  But we can be part of the solution and part of the midwife's dream. You do not have to be a mid-wife, or a bucket carrier.  You do not have to travel to Vietnam, or wish for a cooling rain.  Your support for a well, or part of a well can and will make a difference.  It costs about $5000 USD to put in a complete water system at a health clinic.  Yes only $5000.  Whether you can afford a complete well system, or a few dollars toward a complete system, you can be a partner with MEDRIX to make the dream of safe water a reality in one more village, in one more health clinic.  Want to work with us?