WFP built dyke eases access to education and health services in Gogrial West County

By Benjamin Takpiny

A dyke road built with support from the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malualbul Village of Gogrial West County in Warrap state has eased access to market, schools and healthcare.

The area is prone to flooding which disrupts lives and livelihoods every rainy season.

The heavy rains often leave entire communities cut off and vulnerable to food insecurity.  WFP’s Cash for Assets (CFA) initiative set out to address this ongoing problem.

CFA projects give cash to people in exchange for their labour in building assets that will benefit the community such as roads, community centers and multipurpose dams.

 In July 2023, Alek community was supported to construct the 3km Alek access road. A total of more than 200 participants were involved in the construction of the road using rudimentary tools such as hoes, spades and wheelbarrows.

The access road is currently benefitting the community in many ways including linking traders and community with the Alek main market, linking communities with health facilities, and ensuring children can reach their school even at the height of the rainy season. Before the community access road, the situation was bad.

Simon Lual Ayiei,45, said that in the previous years it used to be difficult for them to cross to Maualbul village before the dyke was constructed.

He said that people of Malualbul village used to suffer a lot during the rainy season.

 “This place is called Kuackon , it  was so bad before, people could not cross to the other side if there is too much rain, it’s not  good with children and the elderly people,” Lual said.

He said that the construction of dyke relieved them from the suffering.

Awic Akol, amother of 7 children said that they used to encounter a lot of challenges before the construction of the dyke.

“We have been suffering before it was constructed, we encountered a lot of losses, life was very hard especially for children and elderly people, you feared if your child went on the other side because he/she might drown,” Akol said.

She said they are relieved as things have changed as they can now access services such as schools, medication and food.

Isaac Amule, Acting Head of Programme for WFP in Warrap State, said that the dyke constructed in Alek is 1.7 meters, adding it extends to Malaualbul village which is located 6 km.

 “Malaualbul and Alek used to be disconnected for around 8 months a year, you could not access Alek and in Alek there is a school, primary healthcare and market and its administrative center. Today we are seeing the good use of the dyke, people move with their goods to the village,” Amule said.

He said that they provide 40.5 dollars to household for 6 months and these are the community who work on the dyke.

He said WFP provided a couple of materials to the community such as cement to build the culverts that enable water to pass through underneath.

He added they also facilitated the engineer who helped the community to build the dyke.

WFP also provided sacks that were filled with sand to support the dyke.

Amule said that WFP aims to fight food insecurity, restore livelihoods of rural populations, and eliminate isolation and inequity.

“One way of achieving this is through the construction on and rehabilitation on of roads. Roads support farmers and markets which, in turn improve food security and reduce food waste,” he said.