CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER 2025

When drought struck her village in southern Ethiopia, Waré was pregnant but still walked six hours a day to fetch water for her children. She never gave up. This Family Fast Day, you can help build life-changing water tanks, so families like Waré’s don’t have to walk miles for water.. Use the envelope in church or give online at cafod.org.uk/envelope.

Waré's story

Waré, a farmer and mother, was pregnant when severe drought hit her village:

“We tried to plan, because we knew the dry season was coming, and I was going to give birth to my child, we tried to collect enough hay in storage for the livestock. But then the drought was so much more severe than we expected. We lost everything.” - Waré

The drought meant Waré had to walk at least five hours in the heat every day to find water, even whilst pregnant. If she found the water source empty, she had to keep walking, even further.

But Waré had a plan – to build life-changing water tanks in her village - and, with support from CAFOD's local water engineer partners, that's exactly what she and her neighbours did.

When asked about the support from our local experts, Waré said: “They were always very close to us. They didn't just supervise us remotely, they came to our site and worked with us, practically. We shared everything together!”

Their water new water tank stores water for use in the dry season, making Waré's community more resilient to drought, and holds enough water for 300 families.

Your support this Family Fast Day can help more women like Waré to build life-changing water tanks. You’ll be helping families not just to survive but to thrive.