Let me first apologize for the tardiness of this update (I initially intended to get this update out closer to January 7 than February 7).
2019 was a great year for PFW. We fully funded and completed 4 additional water projects (we completed 2 in 2018) and broke ground on the construction of a new school in the Village of Rija Kassah (the location of our first water project). I received a few update photos of the school construction today and have included them below for your reference (the roof just went on). In addition to the water projects and new school that were completed, several new outreach ministries have been established in villages where we work.
While 2019 was powerful we know it is not time to slow down. Nigeria remains one of the poorest and most challenging countries in the world. Nigeria ranks very low on the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. Nigeria’s HDI value for 2018 was 0.534— which puts the country in the low human development category—positioning it at 158 out of 189 countries and territories. When considering that Nigeria already has the largest population in Africa at 206 Million and according to the United Nations the population will reach 411 million by 2050 there is a lot of work to be done.
We have targeted 5 new water projects in 2020 and thanks to our partners we are on pace to fully fund 3 of those by the end of this month. I was talking with one of our partners just today and he commented “I don’t think 5 is enough for this year”. My response to him was “Amen!!!” We began this process by waiting on God to accomplish this (most of you have heard and a few of you firsthand witnessed the miracle of our first project) and if He wants more than 5 this year that is what we will do.
I want to conclude this update by sincerely thanking each of you for your partnership, prayer, and friendship, we are truly PARTNERS FOR WATER and I am honored to be a part of this movement with each of you. We have put together a short video (link below) that summarizes our projects from last year. Please view, share, and know that it is because of your partnership that these projects came to pass.
Please make sure to follow us on Instagram for updates throughout the year.
Jason Townsell