Water for Life

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