June 2007: Quarter of a million people to have water for life through the sales of Thirsty Planet.

Since the launch of Thirsty Planet bottled water on March 22nd 2007 over a million bottles of water have already been sold! Contributions to Pump Aid have just reached £125,000 which will pay for the materials needed to build 500 pumps, bringing clean water for life to quarter of a million people. See a story about Thirsty Planet and comparison with other charity bottled water at: http://www.bottledwaterworld.com/bww41CoverStory.asp

May 2007: Pump Aid in partnership with World Vision

Pump Aid has just commenced a partnership with World Vision in Zimbabwe. The aim of this partnership is for World Vision staff to receive training in how to implement an Elephant Pump programme. Pump Aid will provide training and support over the coming years to ensure that the highest standards are maintained. It is then hoped that World Vision staff from other countries will receive training.

April 2007: Pump Aid's first Goodwill Ambassador

Corinne Bailey Rae has agreed to become Pump Aid's first Goodwill Ambassador. Corinne has already helped Pump Aid through her endorsement of Thirsty Planet. She has spoken in the media about why she is helping to raise the awareness about the work of Pump Aid and about her plans to visit the project in Malawi later this year. Prior to becoming Pump Aid's Goodwill Ambassador Corinne had spoken on numerous occasions about the fact that one in five people do not have access to clean water.

March 2007: Pump Aid in partnership with Thirsty Planet

Thirsty Planet 500ml and 1.5 litre multi-packs are already available in most UK supermarkets and a donation of 50p will be made to Pump Aid for every pack sold. This donation is sufficient for a person in Africa to get clean water for life whenever a multi-pack of water is bought. Single bottles will follow later in the summer with each bottle donating either 5p or 10p to Pump Aid.

Read more...

January 2007: Site update: New 3-D Pump Animations

A new 3-D animation of the Elephant Pump is available on the web site, showing more clearly how the pump works.

December 2006: Partnership with IDE

Pump Aid has recently entered into a partnership agreement with IDE to build Elephant pumps in various parts of Zimbabwe to demonstrate the potential of this intervention in areas where this pump is not known.

November 2006: The 'One Bag' Toilet

Pump Aid staff are working to reduce the cost of improving sanitation in rural areas of Africa. In Zimbabwe, most aid agencies typically use five or more bags of cement to build just one ventilated pit latrine toilet. Pump Aid is developing a toilet design which uses only one bag of cement which is five times cheaper to build. Preliminary designs will be tested and developed further over the next few months and some examples will be installed at poor rural schools thanks to a grant of GBP19,000 from a family foundation in the UK.

The 'One Bag' toilet will incorporate a system for urine diversion and diversion of waste water from people bathing inside the toilet (or washing their hands after using the toilet). This waste water and urine can be used for irrigation of nutrition gardens since urine contains 94% of the nitrogen content of human waste. When the 'one bag' toilet eventually fills up, the cement slab can be re-used for another toilet and a fruit tree can be planted on the hole to absorb useful nutrients for growth.

October 2006: Messages from Children in Zimbabwe

Children who have benefited from Elephant Pumps being built at their schools have written hundreds of thank you letters. Here are some quotes from just a few of these children:

Chiedza Chaukura
With water you rekindle a fading African smile

Takudzwa Pasipanodya
Water is the best solution against all odds

Gracious Takundwa
Pure water is good for us inside and outside our bodies

Faith Machingaidze
If some have safe water why can't we also?

N. Ncube
Water provides the means for a happy, healthy and productive life

Elizabeth Nyamushonongora
Life is a song whose tune lies in water

Munashe Ushamba
We used to walk for miles but now we get water effortlessly using the Elephant Pump

Marble Nyastanza
Water is a source of life

Jasper Kanyenze
Whoever gives water gives life

Gwinyayi Sauramba
Access to safe water is access to life in Africa

Gamuchirai Mukura
If we drink clean water our life span is widened. Water terrorizes thirst

Wallter Sakarombe
Empower life through safe water

Rubvumo Nyanhongo
Water gives us the power to see our future

Bruce Masamvu
The Elephant Pump has proved strong and effective. Children can play on the bicycle while pumping water. Pump Aid brought water to my school so now I have more time to study my books. Deforestation is reduced because we do not need fires to boil water from the Elephant Pump.

Lewis Kutsirai
I thank God for Pump Aid and the Elephant Pump for we have received many blessings of clean water and vegetables.

September 2006: Obituary for Professor John Pickford OBE

John Pickford died early on 19th September 2006. the following obituary was prepared by the International Director of Pump Aid, Ian Thorpe.

Born on the 28th December 1924, John Pickford started his academic career in London at Emanuel School, the Imperial College of Science and Technology and then the University of London where he achieved a bachelor of science and a masters degree in Engineering. He was later awarded a doctorate in technology at the University of Loughborough and became a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Water and Environmental Management. He was appointed OBE for 'services to water and waste engineering in the developing world'.

During his long and distinguished career John worked on water and sanitation projects in over thirty countries. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation and also served as term as President of the Institute of Public Health Engineers. After Army service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during the war, John worked as an engineer in the UK for seven years before taking his first appointment in Africa working as town engineer in Ghana for six years. Thereafter John commenced a thirty year term of office as a senior lecturer, professor and finally Head of Civil Engineering Department. He is however most famous for his achievements as Leader of the Water Engineering and Development Centre at Loughborough University from 1971 to 1990.

Through WEDEC John developed his interest in low cost sanitation and water supply solutions for developing countries. He was called on by many of the leading agencies for his expert advice in over thirty developing countries and his legacy lives on in many of the places where he assisted with engineering solutions and the training of professional staff. John published prolifically over the years and established himself as one of the world's leading experts on water supply and sanitation for developing countries. Perhaps his greatest legacy is WEDEC which has continued to grow in reputation and size and now provides a centre for learning and resources for the sector.

I came to know John when he generously agreed to join the Board of Trustees for Pump Aid in 1999. He provided invaluable input from his vast experience during the early development of this organisation helping to create a firm foundation for growth. John continued to serve as a trustee until his death last week although his direct involvement was reduced due to ill health towards the end. It was an honour to have him serve Pump Aid as a trustee and his energy lives on as the organisation goes from strength to strength: recently beating over 2,500 projects from 154 countries to win the World Bank's Development Marketplace competition. As a small gesture of gratitude, Pump Aid workers in Zimbabwe are building an Elephant Pump which will be inscribed in memory of John's life. This pump will continue to provide clean water for many years to come.

Despite his many outstanding achievements, John was a modest man who never sought praise or attention. His integrity and determination to find solutions to the challenges of water supply and sanitation all around the world earned him the unbridled respect of thousands. I have discovered that the mere mention of John's name is enough to open doors in the most surprising situations with government ministers and senior officials across Africa suddenly wanting to help in any way they can with a project which their former professor and friend is involved in. I am most grateful to John's wife Daphne for her generosity in dedicating the collection for John's funeral to Pump Aid. John will be sorely missed, but his life's work will continue through WEDEC and Pump Aid.

September 2006: the Watershed Conference

An extended AGM including trustees and all the staff of Pump Aid was held in Zimbabwe this month. Issues covered included: plans for expansion over the next five years, how to get more benefit from improved water supplies through agriculture and improved sanitation, monitoring and evaluating the impact, input from beneficiaries, advocacy and the development of upgraded systems for governance and financial management as Pump Aid continues to grow at an exponential rate.

August 2006: Elephant Pumps for 100,000 children at 200 Schools

In an initiative to establish improved water supplies at poor rural schools in Zimbabwe, Elephant Pumps have been built at over 200 schools. An average of around 500 children attend these schools and over 100 local villagers, school teachers etc will generally make use of each pump.

July 2006: Pump Aid partnership with CRS

Pump Aid continues to establish partnerships with major development NGOs on the ground. The most recent of these is an agreement to work with Catholic Relief Services to establish a pilot programme with 50 Elephant Pumps in the District of Bubi in Zimbabwe.

June 2006: Pump Aid plans to work with Save the Children

Following field visits to remote impoverished communities near Binga in the far north of Zimbabwe, the Country Director of Pump Aid (Amos Chitungo) has decided to accept a partnership request from Save the Children Fund (UK). Amos reports that "Save the Children is doing tremendous work to assist some of the poorest communities in Zimbabwe, but they need our help to establish sustainable supplies of clean water for drinking and productive use in remote areas near Binga". Plans are now being developed for Pump Aid staff to work with Save the Children to establish an Elephant Pump programme in that area.

May 2006: Pump Aid Win the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition

Pump Aid has emerged as a winner in the Development Marketplace Competition out of over 2,500 projects in the sector of water and energy nominated from 254 countries. The trophy was presented to Ian Thorpe and Mutsa Chironga of Pump Aid by the President of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz. This follows on from Pump Aid winning the St Andrews Prize for the Environment last year.

Ian Thorpe and Mutsa Chironga receive their trophy as winners of the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition from Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz

The panel of 150 internationally renowned expert judges was especially impressed by how Pump Aid has developed the Elephant Pump technology along with a community driven approach to establish sustainable supplies of clean drinking water plus sufficient water for irrigation of vegetable gardens and tree nurseries. The panel was looking for projects with the potential to scale up for the benefit millions of poor people and selected 30 equal winners (there was no ranking among the 30 winners). In addition to being named as a winner, Pump Aid was also awarded US$120,000 which was the full amount applied for to build 200 Elephant Pumps for schools and villages in Zimbabwe along with improvements to sanitation and establishment of nutrition gardens.

Ian Thorpe and Mutsa Chironga tell school children about the Elephant Pump

The lack of access to clean water in poor rural schools and in many villages of Zimbabwe is a growing problem as existing technologies (such as piston-based pumps) break down due to the high cost of repair and a lack of spare parts. Together with inadequate sanitation, this leads to school closures, exclusion of girls from classes (as they are sent to collect water) and also results in thousands of children dying through outbreaks of water-related diseases. Existing programs for rural water supply mainly use piston-pumps which cost around US$3,000-10,000 (including drilling) and are expensive to maintain. Shallow aquifers are found in most rural areas, but communities lack the means to access this resource in a way that provides safe clean drinking water.

Ian Thorpe and Mutsa Chironga at Pump Aid's Development Marketplace stand

This project uses an innovative technology developed by Pump Aid called the Elephant Pump. This pump, which costs only US$500 (including drilling) has proved itself to be sustainable since spare parts can be manufactured from waste materials found in any African homestead. The grant of US$120,00 will allow Pump Aid to establish sustainable supplies of clean water (and improved sanitation) for around 100,000 poor people including a large number of AIDS orphans who will be able to remain in school due to the nutrition gardens established for dry-season irrigation (using the same Elephant Pumps). The pedal powered mechanism also makes pumping water fun as children simply 'play' on the pumps to lift water at a rate of one litre per second from protected self-filtering wells or boreholes that are around thirty metres deep. The Pump Aid website is found at www.pumpaid.org and the World Bank site is found at www.worldbank.org/developmentmarketplace

May 2006: Pump Aid in Partnership with Oxfam

Pump Aid has recently agreed to work in partnership with Oxfam in Zimbabwe. Under the terms of this partnership, Oxfam will fund the installation of Elephant Pumps and the training of Oxfam staff by Pump Aid. This will enable Oxfam to establish cheap and sustainable water supplies for poor rural communities in various parts of the country.

The Elephant Pumps will provide clean drinking water and water for productive use through agricultural projects.

April 2006: Moma Foods Pledges 10% to Pump Aid

Moma Foods brings commuters in London a healthy filling breakfast every morning. This company started trading very recently but is already expanding to various sites. 10% of profits from all Moma products will be donated to Pump Aid.

March 2006: Pump Aid at the World Water Forum

Pump Aid's Director, Ian Thorpe, attended the World Water Forum in Mexico this month. He made presentations and participated in workshops on a number of topics. One focus of his attention was the PRODWAT working group (of which Pump Aid is a member). A meeting was held to encourage policy makers and donors to recognise the importance of projects which combine multiple uses for water supplies.

Most projects currently focus either on irrigation for agriculture or on clean water for improved health. Very few donors and policy makers encourage projects that incorporate multiple use systems despite the obvious advantages. This often has to do with the fact that government departments and aid agencies usually focus on specific sectors and rarely develop collaborative projects.

A presentation which was prepared with assistance from Pump Aid for Mexico can be downloaded at PRODWAT CD.

February 2006: Pump Aid reach the Final of a World Bank Competition

Over 2,500 water, sanitation and energy projects from 153 countries submitted proposals for the World Bank's Global Development Marketplace Competition. As a finalist, Pump Aid now has a one in three chance of winning a prize of USD100,000 along with all the publicity that would come from winning such a prestigous competition.

Development Marketplace (DM) is a competitive grant programme of the World Bank that funds innovative, small-scale development projects. DMÂ’s primary objective is to identify and support creative ideas that deliver results and have the potential to be expanded or replicated. In 2006, the DM is focussing on projects which provide innovations in water, sanitation and energy services for poor people.

Ian Thorpe will present Pump Aid's project at the World Bank's Headquarters on 8-9 May in front of a jury and the general public. Over 240 assessors from over 50 organisations have been involved in the selection process so it really is a great achievement for Pump Aid to reach the Grand Final for this competition.

January 2006: Pump Aid to expand with a Big Lottery Fund Grant

The Big Lottery Fund has announced a grant of GBP143,038 to Pump Aid over two years starting next month. With matched funding from AquAid, this grant will allow Pump Aid to establish sustainable supplies of clean drinking water for at least 120,000 of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Zimbabwe. Over 80,000 people will also benefit from increased agricultural production as they use Elephant Pumps to establish nutrition gardens during the dry season along with fruit tree and livestock projects. The project will include participatory health and hygiene education and also upgraded sanitation, with at least 50,000 children and poor villagers expected to gain access to improved latrines and facilities to wash their hands.

There is a strong focus on poor rural schools where school children, especially girls, will be able to spend longer in the classroom in a healthier learning environment due to the presence of clean water on site. Girls will no longer miss lessons when sent to collect water from distant sources and are also likely to miss fewer days due to water borne disease since the project establishes sustainable supplies of clean water at schools AND in the surrounding villages. Through partnership with the Biological Research and Training Institute (BRTI) Pump Aid will work to enhance the impact of improved sanitation and clean water provision by facilitating community based learning to increase hygienic practices. For example if school children learn to wash their hands with free flowing soapy water after using the toilet, the reduction in water-borne diseases can be dramatic.

Productive use of the new water supplies will allow beneficiaries to generate income from their Elephant Pumps through a variety of means. Several cooperative groups will be able to start production of bricks and tiles, but the most common uses will be for irrigation and livestock projects. Dry season irrigation of nutrition gardens will provide food security in areas prone to drought, since the design and placement of pumps allows sustainable harvest of groundwater even after several years with poor rains. In some cases, the pumps will be used to sustain field crops through dry periods in poor rainy seasons but the primary use will be to establish small irrigated plots which can include integrated livestock projects and tree nurseries.

Those targeted by this project will include a large number of AIDS orphans. If a village pump is placed at a child-headed homestead where the parents have died from AIDS, it will make those children the gate-keepers of an important resource for the surrounding villagers. This will raise the social status of children who are often stigmatised and excluded due to negative perceptions surrounding those affected by AIDS. A large number of households will be able to collect clean water from each pump and a communal vegetable garden will often be established at the site. Due to proximity of the water source, the direct benefit to the AIDS orphans will be especially significant.

December 2005: Partnership with CARE

With core funding from DFID under their protracted relief programme in Zimbabwe, Pump Aid has now entered into partnership with yet another international development NGO called CARE International. Pump Aid has been awarded a grant of USD120,000 for 240 Elephant Pumps to be installed in the district of Zaka in Masvingo Province. As with the CAFOD partnership this collaborative programme will include health and hygiene education and agricultural training.

Pump Aid will be working in partnership with CARE and will be training CARE field staff so that they will eventually be able to build Elephant Pumps themselves. This transfer of skills will take a couple of years but will mean that another organisation (ie not just Pump Aid) will be able to offer the Elephant Pump as a technology choice for prospective beneficiaries. This will allow for more rapid propagation of what has been proven to be a cost effective, appropriate and sustainable technology.

November 2005: Partnership with CAFOD

CAFOD has awarded a grant of USD100,000 to Pump Aid for a programme in the district of Chivi in the south of Zimbabwe. This collaborative intervention will include the construction of 200 Elephant Pumps along with health and hygiene education and agricultural training. Pump Aid will be working in partnership with CAFOD and will be training CAFOD field staff so that they will eventually be able to build Elephant Pumps themselves. This transfer of skills will take a couple of years.

October 2005: Pump Aid short-listed for the EU Water Facility

796 preliminary proposals from 64 countries were submitted to the EU Water Facility requesting a total of approx €2.8 billion. Of these, 290 projects (including Pump Aid) were short-listed with a total request of €1.4 billion. The EU Water Facility fund is however set at €0.7 billion, so only half of the organisations in the shortlist will receive a grant.

Pump Aid submitted a second round application for a grant of approx €2 million over five years with a view to expand its current activities in Africa. The proposed expansion would include training for other NGO's in various parts of Africa to allow them to bring down the cost and increase the sustainability of their rural water supply programmes. The Elephant Pump programme will form a key part of this expansion along with related activities such as promotion of improved health, hygiene, sanitation and agricultural production using low cost irrigation.

September 2005: DFID and British Embassy Funding Received

An initial grant of eighty thousand pounds was received from DFID this week along with a further small grant of ten thousand pounds from the British Embassy in Harare. These funds will allow for a dramatic expansion of Pump Aid's Elephant Programme in Zimbabwe. The DFID grant is particularly critical, as it is primarily for core capacity building and will allow Pump Aid to set up new operational bases in Masvingo.

The DFID grant will also allow Pump Aid to put in place the structures, staff and vehicles needed to respond to increasing demand from the NGO sector in Zimbabwe. Already this year, two of DFID's partner NGO's (CAFOD and CARE) have requested partnership with Pump Aid for the implementation of Elephant Pump programmes in the districts of Chivi and Zaka. Pump Aid will also be seeding the Elephant Pump programme in partnership with other NGO's across Zimbabwe.

August 2005: Throw a party and help others!

Clare Feeney Johnson was so inspired and touched by the work of Pump Aid that she simply had to do something to help. Being a party loving girl it had to be a social occasion and so a BBQ was arranged for family and friends. And what a party it was, duck racing, raffles and guess the weight together with everyone financially contributing for their drinks and their BBQ tucker. A staggering £1200 was raised for Pump Aid and we would like to thank Clare, her husband Mark and everyone involved for their support.

August 2005: John O'Groats to Land's End Walk

Scott and EmmaJayne Dumbleton are walking from John O'Groats to Lands End for Pump Aid. They set off on August 10th and it should take them approximately 50 days. At present they are averaging about 22 miles per day. They carry all they need on their backs including the tent in which they sleep each night and food to sustain them until they reach somewhere where they can sit down and have a proper cooked meal! So far they have raised over £1680 which will result in critical change in the lives of thousands of people in Africa. If you would like to contribute to their fundraising effort, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/emscot .

August 12th 2005: DFID working in Partnership with Pump Aid - Water for Life in Zimbabwe

Pump Aid tackles poverty by working with local communities to establish sustainable supplies of clean water for improved health and increased agricultural production. The profile of Pump Aid was raised this year, when they won the St Andrews Medal and Prize for the Environment 2005. In a strong field of 261 projects nominated from 50 countries, Pump Aid took the top prize due to the success of their Elephant Pump programmes in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

DFID has recently entered into partnership with Pump Aid in Zimbabwe under their Protracted Relief Programme. This followed a series of small grants awarded through the British Embassy in Harare which proved to be very cost effective. Two grants totaling twenty five thousand pounds were enough for installation of Elephants Pumps at fifty poor rural schools plus other pumps in the nearby villages benefiting over 30,000 people.

In addition to providing clean drinking water for children, teachers and local villagers, these Elephant Pumps have been used to establish school nutrition gardens. This allows each child to grow a bed of vegetables during the dry season to take home for their families. The schools can also use water to generate much needed income through livestock projects, fruit tree nurseries and irrigated agriculture.

The impact for girls is especially significant when sustainable supplies of clean water are established in and around poor rural schools. At present, girls may arrive at school late due to spending hours collecting water for their family each morning. Some girls may then be beaten by teachers due to being late and could even miss further lessons if these teachers send them to collect water as a punishment (where there is no supply of water at the school). The personal security of girls who walk long distances to collect water is also an issue, since there is a high prevalence of rape. This has contributed to a large proportion of 16 yr-old girls being HIV+ in some parts of Zimbabwe.

Village pumps are usually sited at the most vulnerable homesteads such as child-headed households. Many thousands of such households now exist in Zimbabwe as the AIDS pandemic commonly results in the death of both parents. With children as young as seven years old being left alone to fend for themselves, it is vital that they get assistance. In addition to the desperate poverty of this situation, there is also considerable stigma attached to orphans whose parents are thought to have died from AIDS. They can become outcasts and may be blamed when eggs, chickens and vegetables are stolen since they have no parents to defend them and in some cases because these children are indeed forced to steel to survive.

An Elephant Pump at such a homestead provides these children with a ready supply of clean water for productive irrigation. It also provides clean drinking water for them and quite a number of the surrounding homesteads. This means that such children become the gate-keepers of a valuable community resource which helps to elevate their social status.

A DFID grant of GBP94,230 was agreed in July 2005 for the first year of what could be a five-year programme. This initial grant will enable Pump Aid to build its capacity in Zimbabwe to assist several other NGO's in the provision of sustainable water supplies for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in this troubled country. In the first year, Pump Aid will mainly be working with CAFOD and CARE, who have also benefited from new DFID funding under the PRP WATSAN programme. In partnership with CARE and CAFOD, Pump Aid will install around 500 Elephant Pumps over the next year, and a range of related activities will also be conducted to improve agricultural production, health, hygiene and sanitation.

It is hoped that funding for this DFID PRP WATSAN programme will be increased in subsequent years allowing Pump Aid to respond to the demand for training and partnership which has come from other NGO's right across Zimbabwe. Pump Aid is keen to share skills and experiences so that other organisations can replicate the success of their community-driven approach to rural water supply. Pump Aid has also received requests for partnership, training and seeding from governments and NGO's in 21 other African countries.

A key component of Pump Aid's programme is the Elephant Pump. This low-cost technology, which can be classed in the rope-pump family, was developed by Pump Aid staff in Zimbabwe from 1996 - 2000. Since the year 2000 over 1,200 pumps have been installed which are now used by around quarter of a million Zimbabweans. The integrated design is easily maintained by the pump user at extremely low cost and includes a low cost hand-dug well system up to 30 metres deep. It is suitable and sustainable for even the most remote areas and, with an extraction rate of around one litre per second, it can be used to irrigate nutrition gardens.

The Elephant Pump needs very little energy to lift a certain volume of water due to the continuous flow and reduced friction, and it can be adapted to use a double crank 'bicycle' system. It is therefore safe, easy and fun to use even for children and the elderly. At schools where the bicycle system is installed, children have been known to come to school early to 'play' on the pump while they fill up a tank of water for the school vegetable garden. This contrasts sharply to the situation where children had to walk miles for the arduous chore of fetching water before Elephant Pumps were installed.

The Elephant Pump is fully enclosed to avoid contamination, which means there is no danger of children or animals falling in and with the self-filtering well design (and the self-cleaning no-clog pump) this results in water of extremely high quality. The pump is built and maintained using only materials that are locally available in Zimbabwe. Beneficiaries contribute bricks, sand and unskilled labour during the construction process which leads to a strong sense of ownership. The pump is easily maintained by women, men or children, as spare parts can be made by the beneficiaries themselves if necessary at the village level, with a little training from the Pump Aid staff. Should water tables fall, the pump can easily be lifted out by hand and the well deepened.

The Executive Director for Pump Aid Ian Thorpe said, "We are proud to be associated with DFID as we work together to tackle extreme poverty in Africa."

August 7th 2005: £3666 raised for Pump Aid in London Triathlon

On August 7th, Jonny Crane, Peter Clearkin, and Andrew Tymms, competed in the London Triathlon in support of Pump Aid. Each member of the Pump Aid team, all of whom are colleagues at Bain & Company, did the full Olympic triathlon, which consists of a 1500m swim in the London docks, a 40km bike, and finally a gruelling 10km run. So far, they have managed to raise a staggering £3666 for Pump Aid, which will literally transform the lives of thousands of the poorest men, women, and children in Africa, by giving them a fresh supply of clean water. If you would like to contribute to their fundraising effort, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/pumpaidtriathlon .

July 14th 2005: Sixty Elephant Pumps built in partnership with Plan International

Pump Aid recently installed 60 Elephant pumps in Mutasa District in partnership with the international NGO Plan International. Plan is a child centred charity which supports people to end poverty in their community so that every child can realise their potential.

The newly promoted Country Director for Pump Aid Zimbabwe, Amos Chitungo, said: "We are looking to develop partnerships with other NGO's working in Zimbabwe. This will help these organisations offer low cost solutions for rural water supply in disadvantaged communities. These partnerships are also an excellent way for NGO's to share their skills and experiences in related fields such as health & hygiene promotion and agriculture."

Amos Chitungo has been active in promoting the coordination of water and sanitation activities through the establishment of district level committees.

June 21st 2005: Commission for Africa Meeting in South Africa

Norest Chitungo and Ian Thorpe attended the Africa Commission meeting for southern African NGO's in Johannesburg this month. Feedback from this meeting will help to inform discussions between leaders at the G8 meeting in Gleneagles next month.

In a meeting with Paul Boateng who was representing the British Government, Ian Thorpe voiced some widespread concerns regarding the 'new deal' for Africa. He followed this up with a letter to the Sec of State for DFID Hilary Benn. The text of this letter is reproduced below:

The Rt Hon Hilary Benn
Secretary of State DFID

Dear Sir

Thank you for your letter of April 6th; we appreciate your encouragement. We are pleased to report that Pump Aid will indeed be playing a significant role in expansion of the water and sanitation component of DFID's Protracted Relief Programme here in Zimbabwe, but would emphasize that this component urgently needs to be scaled up (from £0.6M to £3M+).

At the Commission for Africa consultation meeting in Johannesburg, I met with Paul Boateng and expressed a widespread concern that current prospects for increased aid to Africa should not exclude the poor of Zimbabwe nor indeed those facing poverty in any other country where the international community fails to reach an agreement with the local government. A Shona proverb says, "Where elephants fight, the grass dies". This is true right now in Zimbabwe where people at the grassroots are suffering terribly as Zimbabwe's pariah status in the international community leads to funds drying up in key sectors such as water and sanitation. Right now in Zimbabwe there are thousands of child-headed households (mainly AIDS orphans) where the children urgently need clean water and water to start nutrition gardens.

You have seen for yourself how important clean water and water for irrigation is on the ground for women at the village you visited in Tanzania or for the girl you met in Ghana who was probably beaten when she arrived at school late after queuing for water. The 'one solution fits all' approach of direct budgetary support could exclude the majority of such people who face severe poverty. There needs to be a country specific approach for the disbursement of funds. Where NGOs have demonstrated their ability to deliver on key priorities (such as community driven rural water supply programmes) will you ensure that they will be able to draw on new funds directly? As you and Paul have observed, water is often the top priority of the poor but evaporates when their needs are translated into poverty reduction strategies.

As you said on World Water Day, you are looking to do whatever works to address poverty. I hope therefore that you, Paul and Tony Blair will use your influence to ensure that what works is funded and that the new deal for Africa does not exclude those who need it most.

With kind regards

Ian Thorpe
Executive Director
Pump Aid
www.pumpaid.org

May 10th 2005: Pump Aid wins the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2005

Ian Thorpe holds the St Andrews Medal

From the St Andrews Prize press release:

The press release also includes some photographs and a description of the project.

April 25th 2005: High Level Delegation from Mozambique to visit Pump Aid in Zimbabwe

A delegation from Mozambique will be visiting Pump Aid in Zimbabwe from 15th - 21st May. This delegation will include senior government officials, representatives of various NGO's such as CARE and Water Aid along with representatives from the World Bank, the SDC (Swiss agency for Development and Cooperation) and UNICEF. The Mozambican Government has taken an interest in rope pump technology and they are now keen to learn about the experiences of Pump Aid with the Elephant Pump in Zimbabwe.

April 12th 2005: Pump Aid are Prizewinners - St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2005

Pump Aid has been chosen as one of three prizewinners for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2005. This is indeed a great honour for Pump Aid and adds to the increasing level of international recognition for the Pump Aid approach and the success of the Elephant Pump. The Director of Pump Aid will be flying in from Zimbabwe for a seminar at St Andrews University in Scotland.

March 22nd 2005: His Excellency Vice President Cassim Chilumpha launches the Elephant Pump programme in Malawi

His Excellency Vice President
of the Republic of Malawi
Dr Cassim Chilumpha
and Pump Aid's Director
Ian Thorpe

Malawian Vice President His Excellency Dr Cassim Chilumpha launched the Elephant Pump pilot programme in Malawi with a visit to one of the twenty Elephant Pumps built in Chiradzulu District. VP Chilumpha is also the Minister for Water in Malawi, so it is a great honour for Pump Aid that he is taking such a close personal interest in the project following a meeting he held with Pump Aid's director, Ian Thorpe and Tendai Mawunga who is the senior Pump Aid officer responsible for the Malawi programme on the ground.

Also present at the gathering were over a thousand people from the local community along with a number of senior government officials including Mr Sydney Mainala, the Director of Water Resources for Malawi who has shown great support for the introduction of the Elephant Pump in Malawi. The audience got to see the Vice President pumping water from one of the pumps. The VP also gave a speech praising the work of Pump Aid.

November 16th 2004: British Ambassador presents donation to Pump Aid

British Ambassador, Dr Rod Pullen

Dr Rod and Mrs Pullen visited Pump Aid with a delegation including Small Grants officer Andrew Ndawana and Tom Barrett of DFID Harare. Pump Aid had previously applied for funding under the embassy's Small grants Scheme and a grant of fifteen thousand pounds was awarded. Ten thousand pounds was used towards the purchase of two 4X4 vehicles and the other five thousand was used to build 25 Elephant Pumps bringing the total number of Elephant Pumps sponsored by the British Embassy to 75.

During the day the delegation got to see how parts of the pump are prefabricated at the Pump Aid workshop then Audrey Chagwedera and Amos Chitungo explained how Pump Aid records are maintained. The group then proceeded to Mbaza Primary School where one of the embassy sponsored pumps had been built. This pump was officially opened by Dr Pullen and Ian Thorpe who both went on to deliver speeches to the assembled community. A number of other speakers, including the head teacher, offered their thanks to the British Embassy and Pump Aid for their assistance. The District Administrator emphasized the importance of clean water for schools and villages in Mutasa District.

October 4th 2004: Pumpkin Porridge, Karen Mercer and a New Office for Pump Aid

Roger Mercer of Mercer Farming has generously funded the setting up of a new Pump Aid office in Barton under Needwood. This office will be used by Kathryn Suggate (Pump Aid's secretary) and Karen Mercer who now works nearly full time as Pump Aid's sponsorship coordinator (without claiming any salary whatsoever). The importance of Roger and Karen's extraordinary generosity in their support for Pump Aid cannot be over-stated. Karen continues to drive all over the country giving talks about Pump Aid at schools, in churches and to community groups. This brings in donations for Pump Aid and raises awareness about water problems in Africa especially among British children.

One child, 13 yr old Lewis Cairns, who found out about Pump Aid, went on to raise enough money to build a couple of Elephant Pumps in Zimbabwe. He held a coffee morning and sold a recipe booklet which he had compiled including one recipe from Zimbabwe contributed by Pump Aid's director Ian Thorpe. Here it is:

Ingredients

One medium pumpkin (or a large butternut squash), One knob of butter Three tablespoons of peanut butter, One medium onion, Two cups of water Salt and black pepper to taste.

Cooking Instructions

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onion (finely chopped) fry briefly until the onion is softened and clear but not browned. Add two cups of water and the pumpkin (de-seeded, skinned and chopped into cubes). Bring to the boil then simmer for ten minutes stirring and pounding the mixture with a wooden spoon until it has the consistency of mashed potato or thick soup. Add the peanut butter, stir and season with salt and pepper. Serve on its own or as an extra vegetable with any meal. In Zimbabwe Nopee is eaten on its own for breakfast.

September 28th 2004: General Ramsay and Tim Johnson of the Beit Trust visit Pump Aid in Malawi

General Angus Ramsay who heads the Beit Trust and Tim Johnson who is their Harare based representative visited the first Elephant Pumps built in Malawi this month. The Beit Trust has shown great vision in supporting the seeding of an Elephant Pump programme in Malawi this year with a grant of ten thousand pounds. General Ramsay and Mr Johnson were hosted by Pump Aid's operations manager Tendai Mawunga who is supervising the Malawi pilot scheme in partnership with staff from the NGO World Vision. The Beit Trust have also recently sent an appropriately named photographer (Mr Waters) to photograph some of 40 pumps built in Zimbabwe thanks to a further grant of ten thousand pounds.

August 6th 2004: A Thousand Elephant Pumps and Quarter of a Million Beneficiaries

Pump Aid has now reached the milestone of 1,000 pumps with, on average, around 250 beneficiaries using each pump. This means that nearly quarter of a million poor people in Zimbabwe and Mozambique are now benefiting from easy access to clean drinking water. Most of these beneficiaries also use water from the Elephant Pumps for irrigation of nutrition gardens during the long dry season when food is scarce. This has allowed them to escape the stranglehold of poverty and disease and has increased food security.

July 12th 2004: The Beit Trust awards grants for Zimbabwe Pumps and Malawi Seeding

The Beit Trust has awarded two grants to Pump Aid each for ten thousand pounds. The first will be used to build 40 Elephant Pumps in Zimbabwe taking the total number of pumps sponsored by the Beit Trust in Zimbabwe to 90. A further grant of ten thousand pounds was awarded which will be used to start the Malawi pilot programme. Twenty Elephant Pumps will be built and World Vision staff will be trained along with local ministry officials and the pump beneficiaries themselves. The Ministry of Water will assist with monitoring of the pilot programme which is expected to provide clean water for over five thousand of the most disadvantaged people in Malawi. The pumps will also provide water to irrigate vegetables gardens during the dry season.

June 14th 2004: Pump Aid working in partnership with World Vision in Malawi

Following an extensive research programme and consultation with a dozen international and local NGO's, Pump Aid has selected World Vision as an implementing partner for the initial seeding of an Elephant Pump programme in Malawi. World Vision has around 800 Malawian staff with an excellent structure of area development programmes which include staff that come from the local villages. It was agreed with the Ministry of Water that initially 20 Elephant Pumps would be built as a pilot programme and that the impact of these pumps would be closely monitored to learn lessons about how the pumps could be of benefit in the Malawian context. Prior to the construction phase, both organisations have agreed to contribute resources towards a training phase whereby World Vision staff will spend a month in Zimbabwe undergoing training followed by two months in Malawi conducting site selection and well digging. It is hoped that all twenty pumps will have been built before the end of 2004.