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SAARA MANSIKKAMÄKI 
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A schoolgirl filling her water bottle on the yard of Chiwenga Primary School, to where water now runs from a well that was drilled with the support of Finnish Red Cross and completed with the pipeline that was dug by the community itself. "My job is to technically ensure that the water piping system is in good order. Water is pumped from the well here into the school water tank and when it is full, it is then diverted to the hospital water tank, and when its full, we switch off the pump." "Before we got this water nearby we used to fetch water from the wells and it tasted salty. It made us sick and we experienced stomach pains. Before we got running water, we could not, for example, wash our hands but now we can do that and also clean the toilets." "Working as a Red Cross volunteer has allowed me to interact with my community and get accepted, and the knowledge that I have now in hygiene and health has really changed my life." "I wasn’t born disabled. This blindness developed while I was in primary school. What inspires me as a Red Cross volunteer is that, despite my disability, I have learnt of lot new useful things and I am still striving to learn more so that I can help others." "As a Red Cross volunteer I have learnt things like first aid. I have taught others how to build cook stoves and keyhole gardens and they have eagerly accepted this knowledge without any reservations about my physical outlook."


Development Cooperation in Muzarabani / Zimbabwe 2018 / for Finnish Red Cross
© Saara Mansikkamäki 2021