November 2019
This year we upgraded 24 boreholes, some dating back to 2006 and gave them a new lease of life for the next 10 years, at minimum cost!
Bringing Water to Zambian Schools
Dear Donor,
I am delighted to report very good news from our Zambian water project activities in 2019:
We gave new life to 24 existing installations for remarkably small outlay in each case.
Throughout this year's activity we did not encounter a single installation where, with the benefit of hindsight, we regret-ted our initial involvement. On the contrary, we could see that all the installations dating from 2006-2011 had been extensively used, valued and cared for.
This time last year I gave you an update on our water projects, following on Stuart McGovern’s extensive on-the-ground evaluation of boreholes we had provided in the years up to 2011. As you may recall, we found that corrosion of steel pipes in older installations was a problem. On top of that there is the normal wear and tear which takes place and which inevitably results in a gradual reduction in the water yield over time.
We made the decision that, rather than drill new boreholes in 2019, we would carry out a refurbishment programme on the older installations, giving priority to those schools which had shown a willingness to look after the equipment and to make their own repairs where it was in their capacity to do so. We are indebted to Stuart for giving up his time once again this year. Part of our learning experience was that we need to spend more time on the ground than the typical 2 weeks annually that I have been doing for the past 12 years. Stuart was able to give an incredible amount of time to the project both by way of preparation and implementation including 5 weeks on site in Zambia, managing the entire project on the ground. This is the reason for the fantastic success of this year’s programme.
On my previous visit to Zambia I came across many abandoned boreholes provided by other organisations and ourselves where the communities were simply unable to fund the normal maintenance requirements. This year, for a unit outlay averaging a mere € 1,000 (which is around 25% of the cost of a new installation), we were able to restore full functionality to 24 boreholes which would otherwise have been approaching end-of-life.
As you will read inside this newsletter, Stuart was able to source replacement materials such as PVC riser pipes with stainless steel couplers which will greatly extend the expected life of the refurbished boreholes. In addition to Stuart’s work, Fr. Martin McGowan executed three further borehole refurbishment projects this year. At St. Theresa’s community school (450 pupils) a damaged hand pump was replaced. At St. Mary’s (a community with 70 families) a badly corroded pump installation was replaced with new equipment. And at Katgengulwa community (100 families) a borehole which had been out of action for over a year received a new pump and PVC pipework. Had we not implemented this year's project, 24 installations would have fallen further into disrepair and eventually into disuse. The low cost of refurbishment is remarkable, giving a renewed life even greater than that of the original installation due to the new materials used. For this reason we are encouraged to continue with refurbishments where appropriate. You will find overleaf some more details on this year’s achievements, how we spent your funds, and our plans for next year.
Thanks again for your support!
Derek Mulligan
2019 Project Expenses and Fundraising Targets
This year (2019) we refurbished 24 existing boreholes. To achieve this, our direct cash outlay for labour, expenses and materials was €20,581. In addition, we used a number of pumps which we had in stock from a previous year valued at €3,055, bringing the total cost for the 24 installations to €23,636.
The total refurbishment cost of less than €1,000 per borehole represents approximately one quarter of the cost of a new greenfield site, and comes at a time in the life of the installation where, without intervention, the borehole might well fail completely. The overwhelming logic is that we should continue with a mix of refurbishments for existing boreholes nearing end-of-life, together with a programme for entirely new installations.
For the coming year (2020) we will carry out an assessment of all boreholes drilled between 2012 and 2016 and refurbish any showing early signs of reducing efficiency. We also hope to drill 12 entirely new installations.
OVERHEADS
You will recall that from the outset we emphasised that our activities were run on the basis of zero overheads. Our overheads mainly comprise travel and accommodation costs for project management on the ground in Zambia, and I was entirely happy to treat any such costs incurred as representing my personal cash contribution. This is not a reasonable proposition for Stuart given his much greater time contribution, and so for this year, and for future years, I propose that we will contribute a token amount towards Stuart's loss of earnings in respect of the weeks he spends in Zambia, plus the cost of air travel and local accommodation and sustenance. This amounted to €3,900 in 2019.
Plans for 2020
Our Budget :
We have an expenditure budget for
"PROJECT 2020" of €67,500 made up as follows:
15 refurbishments at a cost of c.€1,000 each €15,000
12 New installations at a cost of c.€4,000 each €48,000
Overhead costs €4,500
Total planned expenditure €67,500
Fundraising Target For 2020
We currently have funds on hand, including donations plus “tax back” received from Revenue, amounting to €39,000. This gives us a CURRENT FUNDRAISING TARGET for 2020 projects of €28,500 . This will enable us to bring clean water to a further 4000 to 5000 people, and to secure the water supply for a further 5000 to 7000.
Stuart McGovern reports on his experiences this year in Zambia
I spent 5 weeks last year (2018) travelling around a random selection of the schools where boreholes had been drilled through funds raised by Derek Mulligan, to find out whether one or two “rogue” installations identified by Derek and Brían the previous year were typical.
I was delighted to find that in fact our boreholes were by and large performing well, and most reported problems were the result of expected wear and tear in a rural African environment. There was a small number of cases where technical, managerial or human factors caused boreholes to be out of service.
My recommendation was for revisiting all the schools that we have invested with bore-holes and consider securing that investment by means of restoring and upgrading the hand-pumps.
And so this year we drafted a programme for borehole refurbishment, and I spent 5 more weeks in Zambia from the end of March to mid May. The first 3 boreholes I visited were working perfectly without having had any work done on them at all since 2011 when they were drilled. I first visited all the 2010/2011 boreholes in the Central Province with Bright Chimbwe. Just two of these boreholes had been refurbished recently by the local Council, and so Bright immediately set about installing the remaining Afridev pumps from our stocks in those schools where major problems were found.
I then visited the schools in Eastern Province where we were reminded of the difficulties of operating in rural Zambia when we got stuck from time to time in swampy ground requiring the assistance of a few local lads to help us out of the mud. The schools in Eastern Province are very poor but their efforts to maintain and repair the handpumps is admirable. The biggest problem I came across has indeed been the rusting and erosion of pipes, proving that it was a good call to do the refurbishment project to keep the boreholes working.
The decision to refurbish these hand pumps was made to secure the initial investment by replacing the existing steel pipes which were generally now beginning to show signs of rust and disrepair with new PVC pipes. At the same time the stainless steel rods, pumps and pump heads were also replaced with new ones. These new PVC pipes have stainless steel connectors which allow a secure connection without the possibility of rusting and have a life expectancy of at least 20 years.
Of the 25 projects I visited, 21 were refurbished and 4 were put on a watch list for reassessment later. Following my return to Ireland, Fr. Martin refurbished a further three boreholes.
It was particularly encouraging that I did not encounter a single installation where, with the benefit of hindsight, we had any cause to regret our initial involvement. On the contrary, I saw that all the installations in 2006-2010 had been extensively used, valued and cared for.
