Woman's work to bring water to Gambian village

A kind-hearted woman is hoping to raise thousands of pounds to help bring ‘life changing’ fresh water to a Gambian village.

Yvonne Wray, of Carter Knowle in Sheffield, wants to make enough money to create a borehole in the Gambian village of Kylie.

She said: “This will be life changing for the residents who live there. They want to eat what they grow and grow what they eat. They want to be able to have water to grow their own crops.”

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Yvonne first visited Kylie in 2016 on holiday, but it was while she was there that she met native woman Shurba who told her how people in the community struggled to get water.

She said: “Shurba told me that water is scarce so they have to be careful with it.

“She said they walk to the next village with cans to collect some water and carry it back. The village can be days without water.

“That's why a borehole in their own village will mean so much to them. It will be used by the whole community.”

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Yvonne returned home to Sheffield a short while later and set about doing something to help Shurba and the other people who are living in Kylie.

That's when she launched her fundraising initiative, which is called Water is Life and is sponsored by the Action Collective, asking people to help her raise the money needed for the borehole.

She added: “I know as a collective we can support the village of Kylie so that each man, woman and child will have assess to clean water. The Gambians are hard working proud people who want to be self sufficient, they just need a helping hand.”

At the time The Star went to print, Yvonne had received £1,000 in donations from Sheffield residents, but more funds are still needed before the borehole can be built.

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Yvonne said: “I would like to thank all the people who have given towards this project so far. Everyone has been very supportive. One hundred per cent of the funds which are donated will be used to help build the borehole.”

Yvonne is preparing to return to Kylie again next week.

To donate to Water is Life, please go online and visit https://uk.gofundme.com/saruba-waterislife.

Yvonne will also be posting videos of her latest trip online. Search ‘Yvonne Wray Water Is Life’ to view the videos.