Managing Water

by Katherine Whitman, Ker Cherno, The Gambia

The women in the villages in the Gambia are responsible for fetching the water. It is the women who use the water for cooking, washing the clothes, and bathing the children. They are also responsible for filling the drinking jars for the whole compound. Usually, the men are in charge of giving the animals water and fetching their own bathing water.

Farmers plant their crops according to the rainy season, which usually begins in June or July and last until October. Crops are well suited for this environment, and depend on the rain to grow because there is no irrigation.

by Rachel Davis, Deb Baesemen, Tim Burroughs, Kendra Cornwell, , The Gambia

It is predominantly the women who go to the pump to replenish their families' water supply. Often, the young girls go, too. They do this several times a day.

Farmers here rely on the Gambia River for watering their crops. Those farmers who do not live near the river depend upon the rain.