Update on Ndandini Village Water Project

Posted by Craig Clarke

Terry Umbach of the Sechelt Rotary club emailed Rod from Kenya during his recent visit to the Ndandini water project. Fellow Rotarians of the RC's of Nanaimo North BC, Moorestown NJ, and the Sunshine Coast BC: It has been a fantastic two weeks since I left home on January 28th. We have assembled a great project team of highly experienced people with much local knowledge. Everyone has met and holds each other in high regard. Everyone has also gone to Ndandini and met with the Ndandini village committee of elders. It was quite amazing to witness the villagers so warmly embracing the rest of the project team, welcoming them to the village, and eagerly discussing various aspects of the well and the project.

I have met with the drilling contractor and the established Nairobi firm that will supply and install the pump and power plant and maintain and repair it (under contract) when needed. I have secured all relevant legal papers to ensure that the well will be accessible to the villagers in perpetuity. I have attached two photos which show (1) the project team at the well site and (2) the village committee at the well site. You can see that we have acknowledged your club's wonderful support and contribution to the project. The people in the photo of our team are: 2nd from left, John - Chairman, Alliance Charity Foundation Kenya Henry - development department, Catholic Diocese of Kitui Jacinta - water technician, development department, Catholic Diocese of Kitui Duncan - borehole advisor, director with Kenya Water Wells Trust Chris - project co-ordinator, Alliance Charity Foundation Kenya Terry (me) - Sunshine Coast - Sechelt RC Emmanuel - Development Co-ordinator, Catholic Diocese of Kitui (Jacinta and Henry's boss) And in case anybody had any doubt about the quality of the water that these people get from their scooping in the dry riverbed, I have also sent along a photo of water just scooped. By the way, I also have a video of them then scooping and passing the dish around and each person chugged it down. I passed on the opportunity to participate although I have had to drink many cups of local tea while visiting around the village. So far so good and I keep touching wood! More of Terry's photos are in the photo album section.