Water for the Burundi Refugees
The story of the Alliance providing water for the Burundi Refugees is the story of the Alliance fulfilling its Sustainability and Capacity Building Pillar.
On April 24, 2023, Charlotte Rodina, the Executive Director of CAC Beardsley Farm, contacted the Alliance seeking help to solve a water problem for the refugees and church at 4531 Bruin Rd. The church turned out to be Epperson Ministries and its Pastor Russ Owens. The refugees turned out to be Burundi Refugees led by Nihazi D. Samuel, President of Sodela, and Egide M. Ramona (Mike), Vice President.
Since 2022, Epperson Ministries had allowed the Burundi Refugees to garden virtually the entire front half of their property at 4531 Bruhin Road. In order to water their extensive garden, the refugees had to run a hose from the church building to the garden over 300 feet. When the refugees used the water for their garden, it substantially impacted the water pressure for the Church and, even worse, added drastically to the Church’s expenses since the Church was paying for the water and the accompanying sewage charge, which greatly enhanced their water bill.
The question was whether the Alliance would pay for installing a new separate water spigot and meter near the garden and pay for the water usage by the Burundi Refugees.
Beardsley Farm, Epperson Ministries, and the Burundi Refugees soon had their answer.
On April 27, the Alliance met with Nihazi, Mike, and Russ at the Church, assessed the problem, determined where the refugees wanted their water meter, and formulated a plan of action.
On May 8, the Alliance met with Keaton Long, the KUB New Service Representative for the Bruin Road area, explained the problem, learned unfortunately that the waterline was on the opposite side of Bruin Road which would add substantially to the cost, received an estimate for the cost of installation and when the work would be completed, and authorized KUB to proceed.
By May 30, KUB had run the waterline under Bruhin Road, installed a new spigot and water meter within a few feet of the garden, and the Burundi Refugees had a much easier and independent access to water. Equally important, the use of that water would not entail the added sewage charge, and the monthly water bill would be paid by the Alliance.
In summary, in a little over a month’s time, the Burundi Refugees had their much-needed independent water source; Epperson Ministries had their water pressure back and was relieved from all financial responsibility for the water; and the Alliance paid KUB for the installation and has been paying the Burundi’s monthly water bill ever since.
