Africa 2010

The Rotary well project in Ndandini is a smashing success with the well producing in excess of 18,000 liters / hour of pure clean water. You can check out the Ndandini blog from the sidebar on the right for the nitty-gritty on that project.

Meanwhile, on October 10 I'm flying out to Kenya to visit the Ndandini project firsthand. I can't wait to meet the people of the village and taste the water from the well that we, as a Rotary club in Saint John, have helped to fund. Jon MacNeill, a reporter with the Telegraph Journal, is accompanying me. We will be helping to finish up a fence surrounding the installation and I will be coaching the teachers and students in the Ndandini school on the use of the new computer gear provided for the school as a spinoff of this project.

After Ndandini we're heading for Mozambique, my old stompin' grounds. The folks in Pemba have a very active drilling program already moving at warp speed. My goal, while in Mozambique, will be to find another water project that we, as Rotarians, can support and bring to life, just as we did in Ndandini. The difference in Mozambique is that all the players are already in place. The government red tape has been dealt with. The rigs are drilling. Rotary support could make a large project a possibility in very short order.

Stay tuned for more as Jon and I head off on our latest African quest.

New Beginnings

Since my last post here there has been a lot of water under the bridge, no pun intended!

Our local Rotary Club teamed up with 16 other clubs from around the globe to create a fresh water supply system for the village of Ndandini, Kenya. This project has been an amazing success with a well now in production, capable of supplying 18,000 liters of fresh water per hour. This will soon be followed up by a drip irrigation system and greenhouse along with some solar energy projects.

I'll be re-visiting Africa come September of this year. I will be stopping in Ndandini for the official dedication of the well then remaining there for a couple of weeks to help in whatever way I can with the pumping, irrigation, and solar systems.

I have two other stops while I'm in Africa. One is in Northern Mozambique to help set up a solar / wind pumping system for a young North American missionary family living out in the bush with none of the comforts of home. The system will supply power for a shallow well water pump, small 12v refrigerator and freezer, along with a few other lights and small appliances.

My third project is in Johannesburg, South Africa. There is an orphanage there which is connected to the power grid but their electricity supply is unreliable as well as very expensive. I will be helping to install a wind system there which will supply power to the well pump when the grid is down along with supplemental power for whatever else we can do to reduce energy costs at the orphanage.

These last two projects have received generous donations from individuals, businesses, and churches. To date I have about 80% of what I need to make these things happen. I'm confident that the remainder will come in soon so I can order equipment in order for it to be onsite when I head for Africa in September.

New Water Projects!

I was a bit discouraged about the progress, or lack thereof, in the well drilling program in Mozambique when out of the blue I got a very encouraging email from the new director of the program. All of the sudden things are moving at warp speed again! Two new wells have already been drilled at Impire and they are in need of pumping systems. YES! That's where I can help. I have received donations of almost $6000. over the last year from local individuals and businesses, all earmarked for water systems in Africa. At this point I'm just trying to co-ordinate my Rotary Kenya project with these Mozambique projects and then I'm off to Africa for a month or so to help get these projects pumping much needed clean water. I can't wait to see that fresh water come gushing out of the ground bringing the life back to these African villages!

So What to do for an Encore

I thought that after we got home I would let this blog die but I've changed my mind. This project lives on and I very much want to keep it alive now that I'm back in the land of plenty. Once again, I turn on the tap and expect clean drinkable water to flow...even hot or cold. It's easy to forget that less than 30% of people in rural Mozambique have easy access to clean water. I can't change this by myself but I can't ignore it either.

The latest news I have from Pemba is that they have finally drilled a successful well on the Pemba base. It's at the top of the hill near the school where there is a real need for the water. The well is too deep for a hand pump so a submersible pump and cistern are being installed. Here is a picture of the area that I took while I was there, The cistern will go on top of the tower you see in the background to give the water some pressure.

I'm working on a spreadsheet as I collect data from the drilling guys (a bit like pulling teeth) so that I can get a handle on exactly what it costs to drell one well. I'm hoping to be able to raise money here for this project by having individuals or companies donate enough for a foot or meter of a completed well, or maybe even a whole well. More details on that later.

For anyone who's interested in hearing our stories, and seeing our pictures, and hearing about our plans for the future of this project we are going to hold a Beans and Rice dinner on January 15, 2009 at 7pm, location to be announced. Please RSVP gregj@greenskyenergy.ca

Back Home Safe and Sound

Aside from some travel weariness and jet lag we're back home safe and sound. It really is a long, long way from here to Africa...more or less 48 hours on the road to complete the journey one way. But, all of our flights were smooth and we made all of our connections easily, thanks to Marcus who looked after all of our travel arrangements. We stayed healthy for the most part in spite of all the potential for weird ailments including malaria, so we're thankful for that.

The well drilling is just beginning. The drill rig is in place and there is now an expert driller available to the Iris crew as they learn the ins and outs of drilling for water in Mozambique. This expert has volunteered his time and some of his manpower to help, so we're also very thankful for his generosity. Money, as always, is the big challenge now. The crew have already used almost $1000. in diesel fuel drilling the first few test holes. They have no money left now to purchase good quality casing, piping, pumps, fuel, and expense materials in order to continue drilling actual wells. I think this is where we, as wealthy North Americans, can help. This is a real opportunity for us to get involved in a real project, helping real people. This isn't some TV show pleading for money for some arbitrary project that most of us can't really connect with. The Iris team are hoping to meet the basic needs of thousands of people who don't even have clean water to drink. We, in North America, take this all for granted, seldom giving it a second thought unless we lose our water supply for a few hours once in a blue moon. Most of the world doesn't live in the luxury we do and that is not fair. It would take so little from each of us to make such a huge difference in Mozambique. We have this opportunity to channel resources directly into well drilling, even specific wells, without losing half of it as it filters through some huge multinational organization. You will definitely be hearing more from me on this subject!

We're back to Civilization

We're back in Johannesburg, having completed our stint in Pemba. It was 35 deg and very sticky in Pemba when we left but 3 hours later when we landed in Joburg it's 17 deg and raining! We're all freezing after getting used to the intense heat over the last 2 1/2 weeks.

A strange thing happened over the last two weeks. We lived in dust and dirt, constant power and water outages, banditos, and oppressive heat but we don't want to leave. There is something about this place that we have fallen in love with. Maybe it's the children, or maybe it's the Mozambicans in general, but none of us is happy to be leaving. Weird.

The third test well on the base is being drilled as I write this. No water has been found yet but it is looking good this time. The only obstacle now is money and materials to continue drilling. It is difficult to get good pipe for casing, hard to find quality pumps, and even good gravel and cement are hard to come by and it's all very expensive...but the need for a reliable supply of fresh water is great in so many place here. I want now, more than ever, to help make these wells happen for these very gracious and appreciative people.

The gazebo at Noviana is complete, thanks to you guys. I have lots of pictures. We had to say goodbye yesterday to our new friends in that village. The kids were told that we were leaving and they clung to us like velcro. It was really hard to hold back the tears and put on a brave face in front of them. My two 'adopted' favourites were Costigo and Angelo from Noviana. These kids are sure easy to love. They're like little angels with tattered clothes. We'll really miss them.

We'll probably be offline now for the next few days as we take the opportunity to visit Kruger National Park here in South Africa, then begin the trip home on Thursday. We're all healthy and ready to enjoy some R&R!

Lots of Activity

There are a lot of things happening. Last week there were major problems with the well drilling. The wells were caving in as they were being drilled. Well, as it turned out, the expert driller they thought they had wasn't such an expert after all but through a series of incredible events a real expert came along. He is an Israeli man that lives within walking distance of the base. When the Iris guys contacted him he came over and very generously offered his time and expertise to get everything moving. He has recommended equipment and supplies that we need and given expert advice on how to deal with the sticky sand situation. He has even offered to send a couple of his guys over to help drill the first well once we have all the gear we need so everyone is really excited and anxious to get going again.

The gazebo at Noviana is almost complete. They will be pouring a cement floor this week. The village people are SO appreciative...this is such a major improvement for them. They offer to feed us something whenever we show up there. Of course, they have no idea how scary that is for us but we don't want to seem un-appreciative of their hospitality so we eat. It hasn't killed us yet, or even made us sick for that matter, so I guess it's OK. We told Don they were feeding us and he got a bit of a shocked look on his face. He said you're not drinking the water are you? We assured him that we're drawing the line there.

I took a couple of little guys on a outing on Saturday. One of them was an orphan boy from the base named Adriano and the other was a village boy named Johnny. Adriano asked me if we could have lunch together and I said 'sure'. I assumed he meant at the base kitchen but it turned out he wanted to go the the Dolphin which is one of the more famous little cafes along the beach. I told him we could go to the Dolphin and asked him what he wanted to eat there. He said either 'cheeken' or 'umboorger', so we all had 'cheeken'. The boys cleaned their plates completely leaving only a very small pile of completely picked off chicken bones on one side. I was embarassed to leave a not so clean rack and my 'cholera' salad but they helped me clean that up too. Then we went out for a swim in the hot water which was fun but I had to constantly watch our belongings laying on the beach because banditos make off with that stuff in a flash if you're not nearby. I bought them a chocolate bar from a vendor on the beach as we walked home. Adriano thanked me several times and they went on their way.

Don and Elizabeth took us to a secluded, very beautiful beach yesterday. You can find pictures of it on the internet if you Google 'il Pirate Mozambique'. Breathtaking place, again with hot water to swim in. The water is so warm that you have to get out to cool off even though the air temp is well into the thirties. We found lots of cool treasures along the beach that we're bringing home.

It's the beginning of our last week here. I'm hoping that I can help the guys move the well drilling ahead a little further. It would be very exciting to get some water out of a well before I leave. We have a tentative schedule to go to Ibo Island on Thursday to look at a potential site for a new village. We would be traveling in a 5 passenger Cessna for the 30 minute trip. Quite an adventure.

Gotta sign off, the internet here is $12 US per hour and it's not even that fast.