Tanked up!

The GVI water project in Mkwiro is undertaking work in the orphanage and the school.
At the start of the week, following the initial training the issues to be addressed were identified, specifically a water tank tap in the orphanage which has been broken preventing water being drawn from the tank which results in 5000 Liters of stagnant water. The orphanage is also lacking in gutter around the buildings to capture the water so that it can be directed to a storage tank.

Super Glue!

The School has had a lot of guttering installed as a previous part of the project but is lacking in installed storage tanks to receive the water. Each tank requires a concrete platform to stand on and the necessary pipe work to direct water from the guttering.

Cementing with the kids helping

This week the initial focus was to relocate the water in the 500 liter tank in the orphanage into the larger central concrete storage tank. This would allow the tap to be removed and replaced whilst limiting the loss of drinking water within the tank and will also give the orphanage access to the water that was contained within the tank. The water was moved by hand in 10 Liter containers, the total transfer took 402 journeys from the 5000 liter tank to the concrete tank. During the transfer the children in the orphanage would often come for water while the tap was open, particularly on Wednesday when the weather was significantly hotter. The leaders of the orphanage were also happy that they would be able to get access to the water. The transfer was completed in two days (Tuesday and Wednesday).

The volunteer team

During the first two days soap dispensers were affixed to the walls of the school toilets to encourage the children to wash their hands, there was recently an outbreak of water borne diseases, such as cholera, which will be reduced by improvements in hygiene.

Andy and Shafi attaching the soap dispensers

The next two days (Thursday and Friday) were dedicated to the construction of a platform to take one of the tanks for the school. Half of Thursday was dedicated to getting the sand and water from the beach to make concrete. Due to boat issues the marine project volunteers were roped in to assist with the sand and everyone on the base helped with the water collection. This assistance enabled the construction to start earlier. Following a meeting with the school headmaster, when the placement of the tanks was agreed, the remainder of Thursday involved the marking out of the stand and the placement of the coral blocks which were concreted in place. At the end of the day additional concrete was received to continue with the project.

Water tank!

Friday consisted of mixing up another batch of concrete while filling the area enclosed by the coral blocks with coral chippings. Once full the concrete was layered over the chippings to make the initial platform. A second layer will be required to make it level. During the concrete pour two of the local children came to assist with the shoveling.

All in all, a huge success! It was a great experience and it was nice to see us reach our objectives. Also, it is such a good feeling to see water now available for the children.

Andrew James
Rain water harvesting volunteer Kenya 

Pictures by Tina Thorburn 

Tanked up!