This year we’re going to increase our build programme by 86%, concentrating on the districts of Mchinji and Kasungu, where we’ll be installing Elephant Pumps, testing out some new designs and new techniques and expanding our work with communities.

Traditionally our build programme has slowed down considerably over the Malawi summer – the rainy season, which runs approximately from December to March – because it’s dangerous to dig wells which might collapse. Our wells can reach depths of around 17 metres, which can feel pretty scary from the bottom, and safety is a very important consideration for us. This year, though, we’re experimenting with new digging techniques – hand percussion drilling – that will enable us to get a lot deeper a lot more safely, and so we’re extending the building season to cover the whole year.

Each of our Elephant Pumps serves a community of around 120 people and is an effective, low cost way of getting clean, protected water which saves lives. We know from previous studies that the technology works and is popular with the people who benefit from it, but we’ve just undertaken some extensive field survey work during the rainy season, which will tell us a lot more, once we analyse the findings.  Early findings are encouraging – the Elephant Pump seems to be more reliable than other technologies and the vast majority seem to provide a regular, plentiful supply of clean water. Of course where this is not happening, we are taking serious note of any problems and will be taking steps to ensure these are remedied.

Right now we are digging in Mchinji. As the build season develops we’ll be posting photos of our most recent pump installations and talking to people in villages who may be receiving clean water for the first time, and listening to their stories.  There’s a lot to do, because clean water is a scarce commodity in rural Malawi, so we’re going to be kept very busy this year.

Mark Bilsborough

International Director

markbilsborough@pumpaid.org

At Pump Aid we know that what really matters is not just installing the technology but ensuring that it makes a long term difference to people’s lives. Therefore, we are particularly focused on how we can improve the quality of our programmes, identify and rectify problems in the field and gather data on successes and failures. In February 2013 the Pump Aid team, in collaboration with independent researchers Mzuzu University in Malawi, begun research to ascertain how some of the oldest Elephant Pumps in Malawi were performing. For 6 weeks the team covered 5 districts of Malawi, inspecting 339 Elephant Pumps. During this time the team tested water quality, pump functionality, investigated community satisfaction with the project and made repairs as necessary.

The team would leave at 6AM each morning to cover the long distances to each village and ensure that they could collect a large number of water samples and get them back to the laboratory for analysis in the evening. In just the first two weeks the team collected well over 100 samples, talked with 400 community members and helped communities make minor repairs on a number of Elephant Pumps. Despite the long hours and hard work the Pump Aid team know information collected will help improve programme implementation, pump design and pump siting, to minimise risks of water contamination and improve overall programme quality.

The team are now collating and analysing the data they collected and we look forward to sharing the results with you soon!

Every year a different district in Malawi hosts the country’s World Water Day event. This year it was Mchinji. Mchinji is one of the districts in Malawi with the lowest number of water sources relative to the population. It is also an area that Pump Aid prioritises for our water projects.

The event was hosted at a local school and gave many water and sanitation organisations working in the area an opportunity to promote and educate the community about their projects. The Pump Aid team used an Elephant Pump prototype to show people how the pump works, which attracted many onlookers. The highlight of the day was a visit from the Minister of Water Development and Irrigation, who showed great interest and support for Pump Aid’s work.

The day was full of lots of dancing and song with people excited to be hosting the event in their area. However, even the merriment of the day could not obscure the serious issues behind World Water Day. People were defecating in the bushes around the school, which shows the urgency and the need for appropriate sanitation facilities and hygiene education in the district of Mchinji and why it is important that our projects reach the most marginalised communities. This is where Pump Aid will be concentrating its projects throughout the next year and we hope that with the skills, knowledge and support from our Pump Aid staff we can help to implement proper hygiene practice and empower change.

We are delighted to announce that Pump Aid has been named the Zimbabwe country winner in the Pan African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education.

The Pan African Award is given to celebrate innovative approaches to education in Africa and the achievements of social  entrepreneurs who understand the role education can play within their communities.

The judges agreed that the Elephant Pump projects in Zimbabwe stood out in their approach for providing local artisans with training on how to manufacture and install Elephant Pumps and providing basic business education and training on how to educate local women in pump maintenance. With increased water supply local communities are better able to generate income via agriculture, food production and brick-making.

We are pleased that our unique approach to the provision of clean, safe water has been recognised by the Pan African Awards. The $1,000 prize will help us install even more Elephant Pumps in sub-Saharan Africa this year. Thank you to everyone who showed their support.

Over 3,000 people are expected to take part, raising funds for hundreds of different charities and now this is your chance to join them!

No previous experience is required for the London event and with a bit of training the 5k or 10k distances should easily be within your capabilities. The spirit of the event is ‘taking part’ not ‘winning’ so you can run, jog or walk – you decide!

If you would like to get involved in this fantastic event on behalf of Pump Aid, simply sign up here.  Every participant gets a FREE superhero outfit for the race!

Places cost £25 and minimum sponsorship is £100.

https://www.doitforcharity.com/book-online.aspx?eid=2335&cid=66227&charity=true

John Snow

 On Friday 22^nd March, to celebrate World Water Day, Pump Aid will be hosting the ‘World Walks for Water and Sanitation’ event in London and we want you to join us and help us take action!

Each year World Water Day marks an occasion for us to reflect on how lucky we are in the UK to access clean, safe water at the turn of the tap. Yet millions of people in the developing world are still suffering due to inadequate access to clean water and World Water Day is therefore most importantly a day to make a stand against this injustice. We invite you to walk with us to raise awareness about the water and sanitation crisis and celebrate the importance of clean water.

We will be walking from the famous site of the Broad Street pump in Soho to Pump Aid’s offices in Mayfair.  

Meeting Point – John Snow Pump, Broadwick Street, Soho.

Why the Broad Street Pump?

Few of us have ever had to worry about getting sick from our drinking water in the UK. But it was not always this way. The last severe outbreak of cholera in the UK was in 1854, when John Snow made the groundbreaking public health discovery at the Broad Street water pump in Soho that contaminated water was linked to cholera. This led to the eradication of waterborne disease in the UK and yet, 159 years after John Snow’s discovery, millions of Africans continue to die of the disease.So come and join our walk to raise awareness of this global injustice. It’s a great chance to find out what we are doing to eliminate waterborne disease through the provision of clean water in sub-Saharan Africa and how you can help.

• 5. 30pm – Meet at the John Snow water Pump, Broadwick Street, Soho
• 5.35pm – Walk with us to our Pump Aid offices at 7 Curzon Street, W1J 5HG
• 6.00pm – 8.00pm – Drinks and nibbles at the Pump Aid Offices and a chance to meet the team

 “This event is a chance to raise awareness about the water and sanitation crisis, as well as a great opportunity for us to catch up with old friends and our supporters”

-Gwen Vaughan, CEO of Pump Aid

 “Universal access to efficient drinking water supply and sanitation services is the foundation for the fulfillment of basic human needs”  

-United Nations

 If you would like to join us and be part of something special this World Water Day please contact:

Pump Aid            Danielle Ross    danielleross@pumpaid.org         0207 290 7900

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Access to clean water close to the home gives women more time. This free time allows women to earn a living and increase their own income, gaining the independence needed to break the cycle of poverty and improve their own lives and those of their children. By providing a pump in a village, Pump Aid reduces the daily burden of water collection from hours to minutes. Every day we see firsthand the difference this makes. Here is just one example:

Gladys Tsuro, who we met in Muszvidzina village, Zimbabwe, is a single parent with 2 very young children. She used to have to carry her children with her 7km 2 or 3 times a day to collect water from the nearest open well. Thanks to the pump we installed, Gladys now uses her time to grow fruit and vegetables, which she sells to local people in her community. Gladys estimates that she makes around $50 a month from her garden that she cultivates using the water from the pump. This is enough money to pay school fees for her children and buy food and other household essentials for her whole family.

By providing local access to clean, safe water Pump Aid is helping to improve the opportunities for women in sub-Saharan Africa. Access to clean, safe water is not only an essential basic need but a valuable asset, which gives women the chance to build a better future for their families and themselves.

What better way to bring in the New Year than to introduce our new team.  Over the past two months we have taken on new staff members in fundraising, programmes and finance and we have high hopes for their fresh ideas. If you want to learn more about our new team then visit the staff page on our website, where you will find a biography for each person, to give you a better insight about the people behind the work at Pump Aid.

We have a very exciting and busy year ahead, with hopes that we can make this the most successful year yet for Pump Aid and help to transform the lives of thousands more people suffering from water poverty.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with all the latest news and help us raise awareness for our work.

Our Pump Aid Christmas tree tells the story of six people whose lives have been changed by access to clean and safe water. The installation of an Elephant Pump is just the beginning of what we do and our campaign shows how a sustainable source of water can transform a community.

We have chosen just six examples of how Elephant Pumps are empowering communities towards progress and we hope that our campaign will inspire you to support us and create more success stories in the future.

Why not see for yourself and visit our interactive Christmas campaign.

RE: Cause “Love Tap” T-shirt

RE:Cause have chosen Pump Aid as their first charity in a campaign to generate awareness and positive change on a global scale, featuring 52 causes over the next year.

You can choose from two custom designs; either ‘Pipeworks’ displaying a colourful pipeline, with an input of love and an output of water, or the ‘Love Tap’ T- shirt, with an innovative design of Africa as  a droplet of water. The T- shirts are available in a range of colours and styles to suit your personal taste, whilst supporting Pump Aids work to provide sanitary, accessible and reliable water solutions across Rural Africa.

Support the ‘Pour on the Love’ campaign for Pump Aid by investing in a T- shirt on the RE:Cause website from the 19^th- 25^th November and help to increase awareness about the importance of accessible and clean water for all.