What do you do when villagers using a well are disturbing students at a school? Burkina Faso has plenty of sunshine so plenty of solar power. So a borehole plus solar power opens up new possibilities. A water tower so that clean water is available in more than one place from the one borehole.
How to help the school and the village
In September 2016, Myra’s Wells drilled a well next to the College Protestant Annexe in a suburb of Ouagadougou. This is “Ron and Iris’s Well” – number 73 on our list. Although this is not far from the centre of the city, there is no mains water. The well was designed to provide water for both the school and the village surrounding it. But the first choice spot for the borehole, a little way away from the school, did not produce water. A borehole very near to the school proved much more successful.
Distracting the students…
But the headmaster was not as happy as he could have been. Yes, he had a good borehole producing clean water for the student. But when the people from the village came and used the hand pump, it distracted the students’ attention.
So we talked to some generous donors. You may remember Lee Smalley running the London Marathon (if not, click here). He completed his run and, with the help of a generous donation from his employer, atg UV Technology, he raised nearly £5,500. atg readily agreed that this money should be used to install a water tower. Other donors chipped in. And here is the result.
The water tower is now in place.
It may not be the sunniest day – it is the rainy season in Burkina Faso. But the solar powered pump is still doing its job and providing a constant pressure head of water. There is a tap at the school. And a pipeline provides a feed from the water tower so that clean water is now on tap at the village as well.
Recycling the hand pump.
There is one more twist to the story. As the water tower was being constructed, the drilling team was at another village – Noatenga – well number 87 on our list. They found water there at the first attempt. So we were able to use the hand pump from the school at this new borehole. Waste not, want not.
Myra’s Wells guarantees that 100% of donations will be used for wells projects like this one. All other expenses are paid personally by the trustees.