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Several years ago we
organised a local village ‘Christmas Bop’ with a view to
donating some money to a project in Gambia.
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We have a good friend who was helping
a hospital in Bansang, Eastern Gambia, who had told us that because
of the scarcity of a small piece of hospital equipment, which costs
less than fifty pence, children were dying. We donated more than £750
and hopefully saved some lives. We have watched our friend maintain
her contact in Bansang and continue to help the local hospital, but
we could not help because of the other areas we were involved in.
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Since our decision in 2003 to focus predominantly on water projects,
we realised we could run other projects in Gambia.
We were introduced to a scheme to sink a number of new boreholes
within Bansang to assist the local population in having clean drinking
water. The current boreholes are quite brackish and work infrequently.
The population of 12,000, a number that swells to 20,000 at certain
times of the year are served by about a dozen wells.
Wells in Gambia
Over the past few years we have helped in hospital project in a
town of 12,000 people (which swells to 20,000 during certain months
of the year) called Bansang in eastern Gambia. This part of Africa
can be one of the harshest environments in the world and in May
2004 the temperature topped 50 degrees centigrade.
The town is served by twelve old wells, which are padlocked for
a lot of the time, forcing the locals to resort to drinking the
polluted waters of the nearby river. Even when available, the wells
are of poor quality and many illnesses result from drinking water
from them.
We were asked whether we would fund the sinking of a new well in the
town, to which we agreed. This involves the digging of a one metre
wide hole by a team of men called 'divers', who dig down until water
is within reach, at which time a small hole is dug. The wider hole
is then concrete lined to prevent back-fill. When this project is
successful, we will start another within the town, probably in the
grounds of the hospital. Our overall aim is to double the numbers
accessible wells.
Each well costs in the region of £3,000. |
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© 2005 Donate For Life. Registered charity number 1078369
