One refugee’s commitment to ensuring water access for fellow refugees in Gambella
Nyathak Chuol, refugee mother of six and a self-trained engineer at Pinyudo Camp in Gambella, Western Ethiopia oversees an EU and Oxfam-funded solar-powered water point, a lifeline for thousands of refugees Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers/Oxfam
“I’m not a trained engineer; my husband was working here but he had to leave and go back to South Sudan. I was left here with the children, unable to go back home due to the conflict and starvation there, so I had to learn to make a living here.”
At Pinyudo, a refugee camp in Gambella, Western Ethiopia next to a solar-powered water tank , Nyathak is busy assembling a generator. As she fidgets with the intricate machinery , she manoeuvres some pipes around the generator, determined to fix the machine as she has done countless of times before.
Despite lacking formal engineering training, Nyathak shoulders the responsibility of managing the Oxfam-supported generator, ensuring that other refugees at the Pinyudo camp, which is home to 51,229 people, have access to clean water.
To do this work, Nyathak has had to teach herself after observing previous engineers including her husband work on the machines. Seeing her expertise at handling the equipment, you’d mistake her for a real engineer.
“I’m not a trained engineer; my husband was working here but he had to leave and go back to South Sudan. I was left here with the children, unable to go back home due to the conflict and starvation there, so I had to learn to make a living here.”
Nyathak says that due to her job, her days are long and demanding. The water demand surpasses the system's capacity and any break down is a problem for hundreds of thousands of people. Community members turn to her whenever the pipes fail, and she always attends to them ensuring water is available for the people here.
In the sprawling Gambella region of Western Ethiopia, home to over 375,000 South Sudanese refugees, access to clean water is a pressing concern. Oxfam's efforts, drawing water from the nearby Baro River, are critical in meeting this need. The water system operates using solar power during the day and switches to fuel at night. However, due to the strain of serving more people than anticipated, disruptions occur. Nyathak's knowledge and experience becomes invaluable in maintaining the water supply.
“When the community faces a problem, they will look for me and inform me that the pipe is not working. I will go and fix it. I open the water tap at 10:00 AM for the community. Yet, other community routines need my attention. I can be requested at any time until evening time.”
Known as 'Mama Pipeline' to the other refugees, Nyathak's dedication has earned her the respect of all. So deeply intertwined is her identity with her work that she proudly named her son with the name 'Pipeline,' a tribute to her passion for her work.
“Everyone referred to us as “Pipeline”, so we decided why not just name our child this name, and now we have a son called “Pipeline,” she explains as she smiles.
Due to the shrinking funding, maintaining the systems has been a challenge for Oxfam who is grappling with the challenge of ensuring the sustainability of these vital systems amidst financial constraints.
Journey to Ethiopia
Nyathak says her journey to Gambella, Ethiopia, was marked by loss and difficulty. Together with her five children, she sought refuge in Ethiopia in 2015 after the conflict broke out in South Sudan.,They experienced the harsh realities of hunger on their way.
The mother of six shares much more than a love of helping the community. Like other refugees here, the scars of war run deep, robbing her family not only of their home but also of opportunities for education and a better future for her children. Yet, amidst the chaos, Nyathak hopes that things will get better and can be reunited with her other family members displaced elsewhere during the war.
