Update from The Villages
January 05 2009
Hi
We are just back from The Gambia and things are moving on well, Bafaluto village has already used 4000 cubic metres of water from the borehole, that is 4 millon litres in about ten months, and their vegetable garden is coming on well with the second and third planting in some places, chillies, sorrel corn, courgettes, lettuce and tomatoes are all growing in addition to their original crops and we are experimenting with some more seeds all the time.
The brick machine is in place in Njongon and the training is started, the first training bricks will be used to fix some of the houses which fell down in the bad rains this summer and then we intend to build an oven to cook bread and such, in the village at Njongon and follow this with one in Bafaluto, they are built like pizza ovens and fired with wood. They will be able to sell the bread in the village and to surrounding villages. Currently they have to travel 7 kms to buy fresh bread
We researched the bee keeping in more depth this trip and are planning 40 beehives for each village to get the honey making started. Also it will complement the brick making since we can use the bees wax to waterproof the bricks. The honey can be sold through the National Beekeepers Association for profit for the village cooperative to ensure the maintenance of the clean water installation the market garden fencing and irrigation wells. More on this later.
Njongon have their 5 acre vegetable garden area well cleared and the 8 irrigation wells completed as is the perimeter fencing, This will give a significant economic activity to support the clean water project. 72 plots have already been allocated by the garden committee.
Our next step is clean water for Njongon but we need 55k sterling to complete the75 mt deep borehole , storage tank, solar panels& submersible pump and the distribution network. In The Gambia we were getting competitive quotes and since returning we have met with some European companies who are also giving us prices. We intend to make our own bricks for the water tank. Unfortunately we can’t start the water project until we have all the money in hand since there are legal contracts to be signed before the commencement work, so please tell your friends and their friends about us ; every little bit helps.
We intend to make Bafaluto (650)and Njongon(800 )self sustainable before moving onto the next village, but we were delighted with the work being done and commitment of both communities. It was great to hear from the mothers that with only ten months of clean water in Bafaluto their children & they themselves could notice & feel the benefits of readily available clean water.
There is a real buzz about the whole village and they send their heartfelt thanks to all of you who have helped.
Any questions just e mail us
Regards Pamela and Brian