Project Kesho is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the tomorrows of East African communities through the education of today's children. We work to improve educational access and the quality of educational programs to support East Africans in achieving their future goals. The Project Kesho Blog was designed to provide regular updates to our community supporters about the programs and projects we are currently working on.
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Borehole and Pump Update
Update: Here is a picture of the final pump setup. The borehole is on the left in the picture, a child is pumping in the middle and on the right in the picture is the output hose where a lady is filling her bucket.
As discussed earlier, we have been working to bring clean water to the communities of Lundamatwe and Ulonge. We are please to say that the borehole and pump have been completed at the Lundamatwe Primary School, and is being heavily used. The setup consists of a hand-dug well about 18 feet deep, which was then bricked up on the inside to keep the walls from caving in, and then the top of the well was capped to prevent foreign objects from getting inside. A platform was then built next to the borehole for the pump to sit on, with one hose going down inside the borehole and one hose that brings the water to a filling station. The video below shows several steps along the way. The end of the video shows our opening ceremony, were the borehole and pump were officially handed over to the school and the community.
So far the water appears to be clean and safe to drink. Elliot and I drank it on several occasions with no side effects. When the rainy season is over, and the water table is at its lowest (late November), we will get the water officially tested. Plans are in the works to facilitate two more boreholes before the end of the year. One will be at the Ulonge Primary School. The water table in Ulonge is lower than Lundamatwe, so we are waiting to dig until the end of the dry season so that we know for sure how deep we have to go. We are also planning on facilitating a borehole in a different part of the village. However, this will be more of challenge. Since the pumps we are using are designed for Africa, they are lightweight and portable, which makes them easy to steal. Having the pumps near schools means that a teacher can be responsible for bringing the pump out every morning and taking it away at night. So before a pump can be put in a more remote part of the village an organization will need to be created that will be responsible for managing the pump.
The following pictures show the various stages of construction:
As discussed earlier, we have been working to bring clean water to the communities of Lundamatwe and Ulonge. We are please to say that the borehole and pump have been completed at the Lundamatwe Primary School, and is being heavily used. The setup consists of a hand-dug well about 18 feet deep, which was then bricked up on the inside to keep the walls from caving in, and then the top of the well was capped to prevent foreign objects from getting inside. A platform was then built next to the borehole for the pump to sit on, with one hose going down inside the borehole and one hose that brings the water to a filling station. The video below shows several steps along the way. The end of the video shows our opening ceremony, were the borehole and pump were officially handed over to the school and the community.
So far the water appears to be clean and safe to drink. Elliot and I drank it on several occasions with no side effects. When the rainy season is over, and the water table is at its lowest (late November), we will get the water officially tested. Plans are in the works to facilitate two more boreholes before the end of the year. One will be at the Ulonge Primary School. The water table in Ulonge is lower than Lundamatwe, so we are waiting to dig until the end of the dry season so that we know for sure how deep we have to go. We are also planning on facilitating a borehole in a different part of the village. However, this will be more of challenge. Since the pumps we are using are designed for Africa, they are lightweight and portable, which makes them easy to steal. Having the pumps near schools means that a teacher can be responsible for bringing the pump out every morning and taking it away at night. So before a pump can be put in a more remote part of the village an organization will need to be created that will be responsible for managing the pump.
The following pictures show the various stages of construction:
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