January 29th, 2010
Here we are, at the beginning of 2010. The question is, what will we be doing in Water for Life this year?
Let me give you a little bit of an idea.
Nick, our project manager in Rwanda will host at least one Water for Life seminar, and will continue to install water catchment systems on schools and orphanages. This year is a time to train local Rwandese to continue the work into the future.
Daniel, our project manager in Kosovo expects to see a good number of the open wells in the village where Water for Life works covered and fitted with an electric pump to minimize contamination of the water. There also will be movement in cleaning up the river and addressing sanitation needs.
Around the world, Water for Life seminars will be offered so as to train individuals to construct their own water gathering and treatment systems, and to pass that information on to others.
What about Haiti? The attention of the world is on this incredibly crushed nation, lacking every basic service to meet the needs of the people after the earthquake. Water is being shipped in mainly in the form of bottled water, or in huge rubber bladders. We have considered what our part might be, and we are best suited to help later as the houses are rebuilt and new communities are formed. That will be the time when our technologies can make a difference.
Will we help in Haiti? Yes….but later. Our experience has been that when the immediate outpouring of help and the media attention decrease, that is when the most help is needed by a community to find permanent solutions to things like water needs. That is when we will be there! Our first visit will be a fact finding trip but not until at least April….we will keep you posted!
Tags: 2010, general, Haiti, kosovo, rwanda, seminars
Posted in Uncategorized |
January 18th, 2010
I just wanted to share some exciting news for us. We have been accepted as a selected fundraising project by the Norwegian Teenager Conference – IMPULS. Every year, thousands of teenagers get together to search for a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God in their Christian faith. Part of this experience is choosing a ministry related project they will support. This year, one of the projects they selected is the Kosovo project. We are very appreciative of the help, and we will keep you up to date on what happens with this.
Posted in kosovo |
December 23rd, 2009
Well, it’s been a great year, with four good seminars, and two projects moving right along. Lots of people trained, and some really good movement in the actual projects. And 2010 is going to be a year of real action and expansion, no doubt about it!!
Peter, Forrest, Arbin and some of the Tushile villagers
During the summer, Peter and Forrest from Wheaton College did a complete GIS survey of Tushile, Kosovo. On site was Arbin, our local agent there, and our project manager, Daniel, visited in the summer and again in the fall. Jeff from Wheaton was able to visit his students and our good friend Bill who has worked in Kosovo for years was on hand for much good advice
The new pump is installed at Karama village
Nick has done a lot of work in Rwanda, and now several new locations have underground tanks (yes, BUTTS!), including a boys’ home, a missions base, and a school. Not only that, but WFL was able to repair a pump in Karama village near the school so they have good water now.
Dave Landshut
Dave Landshut joined us on staff, and will be working out of South Africa on seminars and maybe the project in Rwanda. Welcome Dave!
And season’s greetings to all our supporters, we are so grateful to you, because you are the ones that keep it all going!
Derek, Director, WFL
Tags: kosovo, pump, rwanda, seminars, staff, well
Posted in Uncategorized |
December 21st, 2009
fiji - the water situation here is a common problem throughout the islands. surface water is crazy polluted, and drilling wells is either expensive, or too difficult. however, a saving grace is rain water. with annual rainfall being somewhere between 70 & 120 inches (180-300cm), rain catchment and storage is a good solution. wfl spent 2 weeks training local islanders how to build rain catchment systems and water storage tanks. here are a few photos from our time there.
jeff teaching how to make tank forms
jordan helping to build the tanks foundation
kona – from it’s earliest days, water for life has been hosting training seminars at the ywam kona base, usually with the assistance of our long time friend rus alit. rus has been instrumental in helping us get on our feet and take our first baby steps. this year, we did our first seminar in kona without him, and despite his absence, it went off without a hitch. this year we trained a dozen or so missionaries in various aspects of water technology, community health education, and project development. here are a few snapshots from the past summer.
building the walls of water storage tank
preparing the lid of our water storage tank
putting the finishing touches on a water sealed toilet
switerland - our second training course offered at the scenic ywam burtigny was a success. having partnered with a humanities & science class being offered there, students from the h&s school and the seminar worked together to build pumps, toilets, tanks, and filters. here’s a little look
students get practical & hands on experience building water storage tanks
practicing the art of handsaw
rwanda - finally, we offered a training seminar at the location of our newest project. having moved to rwanda in august, nick greener and his family organized a water training course for local rwandans who would eventually become part of nicks team in rwanda. friends of ours from floresta tanzania came down to train with us and learn from appropriate technology expert rus alit. during this time, they learned how to build what nick affectionately calls “BUTTS” (Big Underground Thick Tanks). these huge tanks that store roughly 10,000 gallons (40,000 liters) are perfect for storing large quantities of rain during rwandas dry season.
each tank is connected together underground
Posted in fiji, kona, rain catchment, rwanda, seminars, switzerland |
December 16th, 2009
as the new year approaches us, WFL is already looking forward to the new things we will be undertaking in 2010. in rwanda, we will continue to go like gangbusters, working school to school, community to community throughout kigali. in kosovo, we will start repairing wells throughout the village of tushile. we’re looking forward to getting our internship kicked off in june, and as par for the course, we will be offering training seminars all over the world. the first wfl seminar will be hosted in tasmania, australia in february. keep an eye here for the latest updates and scheduled events for wfl.
Posted in Uncategorized |