Kigungu Well Restoration
All’s Well That Ends Well – Uganda – The following is a story that ends well.
That’s Martha McBride – with children of Kigungu village.
A typical work day has me walking down red dirt roads of Africa, accompanied by crowds of people who have gathered to watch us turn water that takes away life into water that gives life. Together we walk down the trail from village to local water source, which is always contaminated. We scoop up water that looks like chocolate milk, pass it through our simple bucket filter system, and then watch everyone marvel as disgusting, diseased carrying liquid comes out clear & clean drinking water. We do this day after day, year after year.
What if people no longer had to carry filthy water, long distances, from source to home?
On the previous trip to Uganda, our usual water walk took us past the dead well pictured above. As we passed it a second time, on our way back to the village, I asked Dennis (RainCatcher Uganda) to get me a quote from local technicians for disassembling this pump, replacing all internal parts, and reinstalling brand new pump. Thus began the first RainCatcher Well Restoration Project, which I nicknamed The Lazarus Project – because the purpose is to literally bring new life to dead wells, of which there are thousands scattered throughout Africa.
Cost to resurrect a dead well in Uganda: $300.
The well in photo above had been dead for two years. It now provides an endless stream of clear water for an entire village. Most such bore holes average about 20′ deep. The water available at this depth is a much better source than the muddy rivers, lakes and ponds it replaces, but it still may carry lethal pathogens. So the next step is to clean it with point-of-use hollow-fiber water filters (attached to yellow jerry can in photos) This, of course, is our specialty. By combining well restoration & water filtration we can bring a new water source to any community that has a dead well.
This project is funded with donations by
www.beachbody.com and implemented by www.raincatcher.org
Soccer balls donated by Nike.
