A Testimony of a Life-changing Well:  With a project completion report from the organization Rural People's Development Society (RPDS) of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, came this testimony from among the beneficiary villages. RPDS has partnered with WFH in constructing four wells in two previous projects, beginning in 2006. Funding for this third grant for two wells on their 12/30/05 proposal was approved at the January 18, 2013, teleconference meeting of the WFH Committee. Funding for the last well on this proposal was approved at the 3/5/14 teleconference meeting of WFH Committee, applying restricted funds to construct this well in memory of Andy Bray.

Featured Profile:     In this issue we are continuing with our profile series. Initially, we presented a series of profiles which introduced you to the members of your WFH Committee. Then we began introducing you to people who have high relevance to the activities of the WFH Fund. Commonly, WFH partners with local non-profit organizations who apply to us for funding. Therefore, those profiles were of the Managing Directors of some of these organizations. In this issue, we feature Mrs. M. Jayamala, of the organization Women for Women, based in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This organization was awarded its first grant for full funding of six wells in 2007 (see the WFH E-Newsletter for April 2010). A second grant for one well was made possible by the Guy Snyder Chapter through the Adopt-a-Well program (see the Fall 2011 issue of the American Dowser to view the project completion report). In 2012, a third grant funded two more wells (read this project completion report in the Fall 2013 issue of the American Dowser). A fourth grant request is currently under consideration.

Mrs. M. Jayamala, Secretary of Women for Women

Dear friends,

I am happy to introduce myself as Mrs. M. Jayamala, the secretary of Women for Women, an all women organization dedicated to the all around development causes of women that belong to the under-the-poverty-line sections of the population in the rural and tribal villages of Thiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu State, India.

About my background - I have a humble background with both my parents belonging to the agricultural laborers group. Due to their poverty status, my parents were not in a position to provide me and my siblings with higher education. At the best, I could study only up to 9th standard. As was then and even now, as is the custom in rural families, I was married at a young age. Fortunately for me, my spouse is very understanding and has real love, care and affection for me. More than this, my husband is really interested in the development of the poor people that live around us. I am now 34 years old.

Both of us were looking for some opportunity that would enable us to work for the people. It was at that juncture that we came to know of the activities of Women for Women.

To read the rest of Mrs. Jayamala's profile, click here

Volunteer travels and projects:  In past issues, we have featured individuals who have traveled representing Water for Humanity, giving trainings or conducting projects in several countries around the world. Occasionally, we have featured dowsers from other countries who practice their art for humanitarian purposes in their own countries. In this issue, we depart slightly from this theme to present the account of a visit to western Kenya on the behalf of ASD-WFH to personally assess the projects conducted there by two organizations. The visit was made by John Carroll, a member of the St. Denis Church in Hanover, NH, and an organization operating under its auspices called Hearts Open to the World. This group was also conducting projects in collaboration with Konditi Development Initiative International (KODI). John was making a trip there with his group and offered to check on our projects at the same time, along with projects being conducted by the organization RETEC under WFH sponsorship. Though a non-dowser, John is quite versed in grass-roots development work.

JOHN CARROLL SITE VISIT TO WESTERN KENYA   -   2014

submitted by Steve Herbert

John Carroll and I met the first time face to face at the diner in St. Johnsbury, VT, on February 12th. John told me more about the projects his group was doing with KODI, and I presented my "wish list" of what he could check on for us.

John flew to Kenya on February 21st for a two-week trip. He did find time during his busy schedule to visit some of WFH's projects. The first site visited was that of the hospital on February 26th. Here John found the well in working order, but heard some people remark about the salty taste of the water. The groundwater in this area is know for its salty edge, and John had the sense that the complaints were coming from people of more outlying areas where the water was better. He saw the old well and pump on the property which had been discontinued, and was told water was piped in at certain times of the year. The present system with the new well, however, is much more reliable.

            The next day, John spent the better part of the day in Pap-Onditi, where most of the projects funded by WFH were located. Escorted by Barack Ouma, the director of KODI in Kenya, they went first to Konditi Primary School. There they saw the dug well, the first WFH-sponsored project to be considered here. The kids were excited to show it to them and demonstrate the manual pump. All seemed to be working well.

Appropriate Technology Feature:  In each issue of the WFH E-Newsletter, we feature some aspect of appropriate technology, which is defined as technologies which are simple, yet effective, and can be produced or repaired with locally available materials and locally accessible parts. These technologies are appropriate where the rural peoples of developing countries have the capability of operating, maintaining and repairing such equipment, and where the technology is financially within their grasp.

This issue, in follow up to the article in the last issue on Manual Pumps for Groundwater Access, we feature the subject of Manual Pumps for Surface Water Access.

 

MANUAL PUMPS FOR SURFACE WATER ACCESS

by Steven G. Herbert

 

Pumps come in an amazing variety that differ in aspects such as design, power source, output, depth or intake capability, fluids or materials moved, or general application, etc. In developing countries, where the desired fluid is water, and there are limitations due to lack of electricity or financial means, the options narrow but still are available in a good assortment. Hand-operated pumps that bring groundwater to the surface come in a few basic designs that vary corresponding to depth and output capability. Manual pumps and water lifters which draw from surface supplies also come in a variety of designs. Having examined the former in the previous issue, we now focus on surface water variants in depth.

            The shaduf is an ancient technology for irrigation, which is the purpose for the vast majority of need for surface water pumping and lifting. Sahduf, or shadoof, is an Arabic word that refers to a simple device commonly set upon a river bank for lifting a bucket of water out of a river and into an irrigation ditch. The basic design is a long pole, balanced in a fork, or in the notch of a horizontal support at a calculated height (usually 2.5 to 3 meters above the ground). A length of rope tied to the bucket on one end is tied to the long end of the pole extending over the river. About one fifth of the length of the pole extends behind the fulcrum with a counterweight attached. That counterweight may be a mass of dried clay, a stone or almost any heavy object. The counterweight and gravity then effortlessly lifts the filled bucket of water up to the level where it can be dumped into the irrigation ditch.

 

To read this article in its entirety with photos and diagrams, click here