This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Amber Miller. To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
This project was to repair the pump on the well and restore it to service for use by the students, faculty, and staff of the school, by the mothers and children working the community garden, and the community at large.
Amber reports:
The project was a fairly quick and easy fix. There was an issue with one of the parts in a German-made pump located in the school grounds. The part (tube cylinder) was the hold-up in fixing the pump because it was expensive, but once we were able to purchase the part, the rest fell into place rather quickly.
There is only one well contractor in the surrounding area of Sinchu Gundo who is trained to fix and maintain these German-made pumps. This caused us to have to wait for the well contractor to have a chance to fix the pump, but once he came, the process was a quick one.
Once the money was received, the parts were purchased within a week and the well contractor came to the school the following week fully completing the project. It was as timely as it could have been in an African country. The actual labor put forth to fix the pump was approximately three hours.
The money was utilized to its fullest between paying for the transport of the parts (tube cylinder, rings), the parts themselves, the labor of the well contractor, and the transport for the well contractor to get from his village to Sinchu Gundo.
The end result is that now the well is fixed and the children are able to get safe drinking water from the pump. They are also able to conveniently pump water with minimal labor to supply their garden beds within their garden they started over a month and a half ago. This garden has served as a great educational instrument for the children and will also serve as a great nutritional supplement for the children’s food bowls at lunch.
Amber reports on how the project was received:
All of the community members were very pleased with the fixing of the well, especially the kids. They all were extremely happy when they realized they would no longer have to fetch water from an open well. When they first used it they started clapping and dancing.
The head master at the school was also very pleased. He is a man of very few words, but when the well was fixed after a year and half of being broken, he got a huge smile on his face and said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank God we finally have a well that works for the kids”.
Everyone was very pleased with the well, and they are extending their thanks to everyone at Water Charity who was able to make it possible.
We again wish to thank The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust for providing the funding for this project.
