Burbax: One Village At A Time

Life is hard in Burbax village. Fewer than 1 person in 10 has access to clean water. Health care is limited, and preventable diseases ravage the community. School classrooms are dark, overcrowded, and dirty. Despite daily backbreaking hard work, the 5,393 members of this community remain mired in extreme poverty.

But all of that changed in the fall of 2009, when Burbax was selected as an Integrated Community Development site for our first ever fundraiser, let there be hope 2009. The event funded the construction of 100% of the basic needs of the community: clean water, schools, health, and farming loans.

One year later the community has been transformed.

Glimmer has completed a total of six school buildings with separate latrines for the girls and boys of Burbax. These school buildings consist of 24 classrooms furnished with blackboards, desks and books. The magnificent new school buildings are now filled to capacity with students. Fithalew and many students like him today have hope that their dreams for the future can come true.

Burbax now has 12 new hand-dug wells, two repaired wells, four spring protection developments and a rainwater harvesting system. The result is that every member of the community has access to clean water. And, microloans are being provided to 365 farmers, enabling them to break the cycle of poverty for the generations to come. A new health clinic constructed in the community provides medicine and critical care. It is furnished and equipped with medical supplies and latrine facilities.

In September 2010, donors from let there be hope 2009 traveled to Burbax to inaugurate the new Minzero School. Every man, woman and child in the Burbax community gathered at the school to start the day of music, celebration and inauguration. And best of all, the community will be celebrating their new lives for years to come.