Ten trips a day, an hour each: a Timor-Leste village turns on the tap instead

In Busadau, a tiny sub-village in rural Timor-Leste, water used to rule the day. The spring lay far below the homes, with no road to it: 'Fetching drinking water meant ten or more trips a day with five-litre containers,' recalls resident Luciano. 'Each trip took almost an hour.' Children did much of the carrying — time taken from school, rest and play — and in the dry season the sources could vanish overnight. Now a clean-water project delivered with Jesuit Mission Australia and the local Jesuit Social Service pumps water from a spring to a main village tank, with taps close to home: clean, reliable water for 1,800 people. In a country where more than 40% of people live in poverty, hours handed back every day are not a convenience. They are childhood, schooling and health, returned.

SDG 6 · Clean water and sanitation — Mechanism: infrastructure build