Dorcas drew water four times daily from a filthy hole where animals drink and die. She had no other choice.<\/p>\n

The people of Bulanda village in Zambia despise their water source. “I don’t like this water at all,” says 9-year-old Dorcas Hamasamu.<\/p>\n

Everyone in the village agrees with the spunky little girl. This water is awful. Truly hideous. One dirty water hole serves 86 households in this village.<\/p>\n

“A cow fell in [the water hole] today,” says villager Rosina Buumba, 44. “A group of cows were drinking and a calf fell in. Another cow fell in five days ago.”<\/p>\n

Neither cow died. But a dog did.<\/p>\n

“The dog fell in three weeks ago. It decayed,” says Rosina. “We couldn’t see the dog but then the fur floated to the surface. The dog fell in deep and got coiled up in some roots. We looked with a stick to unhook the dog.<\/p>\n

“When it came up, it was white, like it had been skinned.”[vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][om_cc_vc_google_maps_element scroll_to_zoom=”false” draggable=”true” keyboard_shortcuts=”true” rotate_control=”false” center=”-13.133897,27.849332000000004|zambia” hide_marker_text=”false” height=”250″ disable_double_click_zoom=”false” zoom_control=”true” map_type_control=”true” scale_control=”false” street_view_control=”false” zoom_level=”5″][\/om_cc_vc_google_maps_element][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n

Perpetually sick and unschooled<\/h2>\n
Dorcas, 9, and her cousin Beauty, 13, live with Mera, their grandmother. “Both their mothers are married,” says Mera. “I asked for them to live here and help me out.”<\/p>\n
Mera needs her granddaughters’ help to survive. She’s HIV positive and often sick.<\/p>\n
When they aren’t sick themselves or taking care of their granny, both girls go to Bulanda Basic School. “Dorcas is a girl who loves school and playing,” says Mera.<\/p>\n
But Dorcas must also get water four times a day from the dirty water hole.<\/p>\n
“She usually has diarrhea, but she is a strong girl,” continues Mera. “She makes herself do things, even if she is not well.”<\/p>\n
Mera gazes at Dorcas with a grandmother’s love, while the girl busily scrubs an iron pot.<\/p>\n
“When I look at Dorcas,” says Mera, “I see someone who will excel at education. But when she gets sick, or I get sick, she stays at home to help me. She will have a bright future if we get water.”<\/p>\n
Mera is right. This family needs water. Clean water is key to Dorcas’ success in school. And right now, she is failing.<\/p>\n
Cobert Muyumbe, 42, the headmaster at school looks through her attendance records and muses sadly, “I wonder if Dorcas has reported this term?”<\/p>\n
The book reveals nothing but a string of absences. The quarter before showed that Dorcas was absent 12 times in nine weeks.[vc_row][vc_column]