Yesterday was OPENING DAY in Yapalsi! After a week of arduous work setting up the facility and distributing safe storage containers, we finally got to see our work pay off. It was fulfilling to watch our women—Sinatu and Irisyatu—becoming supreme rulers of the center. Throughout the day, we heard our women discussing with the other villagers about how the center will operate which made us feel jubilant. All the women in the village showed up to collect water for their families including the Fulani people from outside the village, which we weren’t expecting. In fact, so many people showed up that the center ran out of clean water before everyone’s buckets were filled. Luckily, our women were on top of the problem and were refilling the blue drums with new water to be treated before we left. Towards the end of the day, the chief came out to express his appreciation for all of our work. He loved it so much that he bought 4 extra buckets for his family, and many other families followed suit. Finally, we took pictures to commemorate the event. All in all the day was a success in epitomizing the goals of CWS and we look forward to monitoring and witnessing the growth and development of the village!

-Team Hawesome (Tim, Janna, Boyd and Caitlin)