Residents of Mahada Colony gather under a canopy for the dedication
of a new CFACT-funded well, holding a “CFACT Thank You” sign
For years, families in Mahada Colony (housing area), a hardscrabble settlement in Jalna city in the state of Maharashtra, had no ready source of drinking water. Residents walked to another village to fill their containers. Some days they came home with nothing.
That walk is over.
Through its Stewardship in Action program, CFACT funded a new drinking well in the colony, working once again with local volunteer 
Pastor Ramesh Ghodke, who has overseen CFACT well projects across the Jalna area. More than 100 people are already drawing water from the well, Ghodke reports, and families from farther away have begun coming to use it too.
Residents turned out for a dedication under a canopy, holding a handmade “CFACT Thank You” sign. Ghodke said the colony’s people are thankful to God, and to those who made the well possible, for meeting a need they had lived with every day.
“Before, they used to go far away to get water in another village,” Ghodke wrote. “It was a difficult condition for everyone. Sometimes they came back without water. Since the well was drilled, they are so happy. Almost more than 100 people are getting benefits, and people from very far away are coming to get water.”
The Mahada Colony well continues a series of Stewardship in Action projects CFACT has funded in Maharashtra, including wells in Shekta Siraswadi, Dhorkin Shekta, Kharpudi, Vivahmandhva, and Manjargaon. The program, launched in the early 2000s, puts private initiative to work on practical problems: clean water for people who lack it, healthier surroundings, and less time lost to hauling water 
from somewhere else.
When families no longer have to spend the day chasing a basic necessity, they are freer to work, care for their homes, and look after the place they live. Ready access to clean water also cuts the disease and pollution that come with scarce, distant supplies.
CFACT’s point of contact on the project, Pastor Ramesh Ghodke, sent this note after the well was drilled:
Dear Craig sir,
I am very happy to share this water well report. The well was drilled in Mahada Colony in Jalna city, where poor and hardworking people live. They had a great problem getting drinking water. Before, they used to go far away to another village, and sometimes they came back without water. They suffered so much, and they told me the story of what they faced every day.
Since the well was drilled, they are so happy and thankful to God, to all of you, and to me. More than 100 people are benefiting, and people from very far away are coming to get water. Many of them say their faith has increased, because God took care of them in their need through you, CFACT’s people. I am thankful to you with all of my heart. Thank you once again.
Pastor Ramesh Ghodke
___
