Forest Hills Parish Hopes to Pipe In Clean Water to African Village

By Linda Busetti

As a child in Nigeria, Father Christopher Okorie rose each day at 5 a.m. to walk six miles to a polluted stream, filled his family’s water jug and carried it back home on his head. Then he walked the three miles to school.

In his village of Obinagu, there is still no electricity, few paved roads and no clean water supply. Water carried from polluted ponds and streams is used for cooking, bathing and laundry. Each year about 50 children in the village of 5,000 die from water-borne diseases such as cholera, guinea worm infection and E-coli. Average life expectancy is only 30 years.

As Father Okorie says about many things that he sees as wrong, “This cannot be.”

WATER FOR AFRICA is the goal of a new social justice program organized by a group of parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills, where Nigerian-born Father Christopher Okorie resides.

Four years ago, Father Okorie left his Abakaliki Diocese in southeast Nigeria to study for his master’s in education at St. John’s University in Queens. He now resides at Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills. Father Okorie shared with some parishioners what life is like in Obinagu. From his easy smile you would never guess that life has always been a struggle. He was a survivor of starvation and genocide in the breakaway state of Biafra where he was born in 1967. His elder brother died of malnutrition. Father Okorie spent his first years in a refugee camp.

In 1997, in his second year as a priest, Father Okorie saw that his nephew and other children were not learning.

“This cannot be,” he said. So he founded Holy Rosary School for children from elementary through high school and became its principal.

To the parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy, with lovely homes and well-watered lawns, he told the story of how he fetched water each day for his family, not only in the morning, but also again for the evening meal, something that children still do in Obinagu. His new friends agreed with him. This cannot be.

Social Justice in Action

In December a group of parishioners, as a social justice action, formed Water for Life in Africa, a non-profit charitable organization. Their goal is to raise enough money “to drill a very deep bore hole to reach the aquifer at the water table.” An overhead tank will be built to distribute water to several points in the village of Obinagu – the market, church and schools – where people can conveniently go to fetch their supply of clean water for the day. This would eliminate the children’s long walk each day. The estimated cost is between $100,000-$150,000.

At a parish Lenten Soup Supper in March, Father Okorie gave a presentation on behalf of Water for Life in Africa. He spoke from the heart about his village’s need for one of the essentials of life – clean water. He explained that during the dry season, when there is no rain for four or five months, the search for water is a great hardship. This is true throughout Africa. When water is finally found often there is a film of crude oil on top, spillage from pipelines.

The United Nations has proclaimed the years 2005-2015 the Water for Life Decade to promote awareness and a commitment to water-related issues.

The response from Our Lady of Mercy was overwhelming and Msgr. John McGuirl, the parish’s newly installed pastor, has been very supportive. When cash and checks from the Soup Supper were all counted the total was $3,755. Someone else donated three paintings to be raffled off and funds were raised at a St. Patrick’s Day party. This brought funds collected so far to about $12,000.

Among the seven board members of Water for Life in Africa are parishioners Peggy Offenberger, who is retired, and Jim Freeley, a business professor at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus.

Offenberger said that also out of the Soup Supper has come an engineer from the parish with experience in water projects and knowledge of Nigeria, who has volunteered his services. Things just seem to fall into place, Offenberger says in amazement. “This is a small project we can do,” she says emphatically.

They now have the “seed money” to draw up plans, which can be shown to hoped-for large donors to the project.

Linda Busetti Photo

AT WORK IN QUEENS: Parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills, James Freeley, left, and Peggy Offenberger are board members of Water for Life in Africa whose goal is providing a clean water source for Father Christopher Okorie's home village of Obinagu in Nigeria.

Father Okorie continually calls home to Obinagu to encourage the people, telling them, “There is hope.” Their frustration is not only with the lack of water, but also with a corrupt political situation. “All of them are praying for us” here and the success of the project, he said.

Freeley’s M.B.A. students at C.W. Post have gotten involved in the fund-raising. They held a fashion show this past weekend as a fundraiser with 100% of the proceeds going to Water for Life in Africa.

“Social entrepreneurship is becoming a major component of the business world,” Freeley said. “Where most entrepreneurs start a business to make a profit, social entrepreneurs set up a business that will make a profit and benefit society.” He cited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. The students at C.W. Post are working to create the business plan that will help to raise the $150,000 needed to purchase the well for the village of Obinagu.

Offenberger stressed that people should know that any money donated to Water for Life in Africa will go directly to helping the people in Obinagu. “There is no overhead. Everything goes to the people,” he said.

Donations can be made to Water for Life in Africa c/o Karen Flynn, Treasurer, 1 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375 or by calling Offenberger at 718-261-7398.

“This is God’s own project,” Father Okorie says with a broad smile.

back to top