The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2018 33 However, I discovered a well-structured State Department with particularly commendable objectives, especially as it relates to host-country development. Because my work frequently included photography at official events, I was able to commemo- rate some important moments at our embassy over the 20 years I served there. For example, on multiple occasions across Nigeria, I saw first- hand the difference a U.S. government-sponsored clean water borehole project could make in the lives of vulnerable school pupils with no access to clean water. Clean drinking water is truly life in most northern states in Nigeria. With support from USAID, water borehole projects pro- vide clean drinking water to schoolchildren across the country. On Aug. 11, 2009, I photographed the opening of a U.S. govern- ment-sponsored water borehole project for schoolchildren in Bauchi State. I remember the schoolchildren that day were so happy to have clean drinking water within reach. Months later, reports indicated that their health and social well-being had improved dramatically thanks to the installation, leading to laudatory media reports and accolades. Another successful borehole was installed in 2007 in Goro- nyo, a vibrant agrarian community in Sokoto State with a popu- lation of about 186,000 inhabitants. I was there on July 18, 2007, when U.S. Ambassador Robin Sanders commissioned the solar-powered borehole, the only source of clean drinking water for the community. Traditional praise singers sang and danced in celebration. Before the bore- hole, the only source was rainwater trapped in dug-out trenches that the locals used not only for drinking, but also for cooking and for their cattle. I photographed still another borehole commissioning, this one in 2009. In the photo below, students of the Suleja Com- A U.S. government-sponsored water borehole project in Nigeria’s Bauchi state brings clean drinking water to schoolchildren. Students of Suleja Community School drink clean water from a borehole provided by the U.S. Humanitarian Assistance Office. ForeignService inPictures IDIKAONYUKWU IDIKAONYUKWU