The Roadshow

23rd April 2017:


After two years of semi drought in Malawi, more and more areas are looking for our assistance with pumps
 
If an area asks we bring our sample, model pump to show people how simple it is and how easily maintained it is.
 
We teach them how to dig and build wells, but regularly have to send one of our builders to show even the simplest of techniques, because the community must supply the bricks, sand and all the labour needed.
 
It is almost incomprehensible that in this day and age that almost all of these recent requests are coming from areas where there was never a pump nor often the slightest hint of development.
 
WE are finding women and girls from 8 to 80, rising before 4am and walking for countless miles to queue for and collect contaminated water. Does it seem reasonable, or fair, in an age when the NGO world is awash with donor money and an ever growing AID Business, that the poorest are denied even the most basic human right.
Its not Rocket Science, just a spot of appropriate thought, a bit of common sense, mixed with a taste of Physics, some local manpower and a lot of determination to just go and do it

Of course if we took the route of the development experts we would have gigabytes of strategic planning, endless meetings on sensitisation, committees, and megatonnes of meaningless page filling verbiage, culminating in endless promises and regularly no pump because the allocated money has been used up or maybe has just vanished.
(Sorry, I have promised not to rant, but its a hard promise to keep) 
  
When our guys go on a trip like this, to be most efficient, they also bring the Horticulture, Forestry and Preschool teams to show how we may be able to help those who have already made a move to help themselves. If she is available Florence, head of the Girl Child Project goes along to outline the value of continuing education for girls and how we might be able to assist.