Pump Aid - Pumps For Schools

Pumps For Schools - URGENT SCHOOLS APPEAL: £100,000 NEEDED

Pump Aid has identified 250,000 children at 500 schools in Zimbabwe and Mozambique who are threatened by a lack of clean water. Already, during this time of famine, many children have died due to water-related diseases. Nutrient powder "mahewu" is being delivered to schools under the emergency feeding programme in an effort to keep children alive. When this powder is mixed with dirty contaminated water however, it can result in potentially fatal diseases such as dysentery and cholera. Already some schools have been closed down due to severe water problems and the education of thousands of children is being disrupted.

Outbreaks of water borne disease are becoming increasingly common in schools as existing systems for water supply break down and children resort to unprotected sources such as open wells and dams. This crisis threatens the lives and education of many thousands of children, regardless of whether food relief reaches the schools in time. The situation requires emergency relief, but a rapid response can also result in long-term sustainable benefits for these children. Water can be used by the children to grow vegetables in a school garden so that each child can take some vegetables home to help feed their families.

It costs just £250 to install an Elephant Pump at each school. £250 means a sustainable supply of clean water for around 500 children, 12 teachers and more than a dozen families living close to the school. £250 pays for the digging of a deep well (up to 30 metres), installation of the pump and construction of a brick housing, cement cap and spillway to protect the water source from any form of external contamination. The children and their parents make some materials such as bricks and they also collect sand and stones as their contribution towards the building of the pump. Teachers and children are involved in the process of pump installation and they write letters and draw pictures for those who have sponsored the pump by way of thanks.

On school pumps Pump Aid often incorporates a "bicycle" system onto the Elephant Pump since this has proved enormously popular with children. Most children in Zimbabwe have never had the chance to ride a bicycle so can even come to school early to "play" on the pump thereby helping to fill the school water tanks. The job of collecting water, once a tiresome chore, becomes fun and children no longer have to leave their classrooms to walk miles carrying buckets of water on their heads from a distant muddy pool.

No other organisation can secure a sustainable supply of clean water for a school in Africa at a cost of just £250. This is because money given to Pump Aid goes directly to where it is needed. Children are dying now and you can make a difference. A recent outbreak of cholera claimed 180 lives and many more die from severe dysentery every day. Please help to save the lives of children in Zimbabwe by sponsoring a school pump. Enquiries from schools are particularly appreciated as we are keen to link Zimbabwean schools with schools in the UK.

Pump Aid is a Registered Charity (No. 1077889)
Pump Aid is a Company Limted by Guarantee with company number 03661446
Site last updated on Sun Jul 15 21:25:49 PDT 2007 Comments to webmaster@pumpaid.org