We're proud to announce the results of our scholarship selection process for the 2008-2009 academic year. This year we received over 30 applications - more applications than ever before.
The engineer flipped the switch and we waited anxiously as the low hum of the pump system grew louder. We wrapped our hands around the water pipe, hoping to feel the water course through it. At first nothing happened. But then it did and within seconds we felt and heard over 80 liters a minute of clean water flowing up into the two holding tanks located high above the solar panel field. For the first time in four years the villagers could believe it was happening. As dramatic as it may seem, people in
Since the system went down, it has been catch-as-catch-can in the village. Most family compounds hand dug shallow wells and the village increased its reliance on a decades-old hand-pump in the center of the village. Unfortunately, shallow wells are a primary reason people get sick or die from cholera, giardia, and other water-borne illnesses. Additionally, the limited access to water prevents advancing economic prosperity. Many women and girls spend an hour or more a day just fetching water in buckets for cooking, bathing, and drinking. Further, since the water system broke in Penyem, all banana farming has disappeared and the community vegetable garden, which generated extra income for families, has turned into an empty, dry dust lot.
Thus, Friends of Penyem decided that replacing the water system was our number one priority. After two years of work, contracts with two separate engineering firms, one creative way to salvage the existing solar panels, two news pumps, a new pump control system and $15,000+ of contributions from generous donors, the village has water! The village now enjoys a system with daily pumping capacity of over 80,000 liters of water– over 50 liters per villager, which is more than enough to meet existing needs and have excess capacity for farming and other economic activities.
GAM-Solar: A Key Partner in the Search for Water
One of the great side benefits from our work on the water system is the relationship we have created with GAM-Solar, a locally-owned and operated solar-powered water system engineering firm. Hans Noteboom, the Dutch-born engineer who is GAM-Solar’s founder, and his Gambian team of engineers are a shining example of the kind of trustworthy and capable commercial enterprise that
As an organization we feel that our relationships with GAM-Solar and with Gambian government officials and our growing understanding of how to accomplish projects in the developing world will be important assets as we pursue new projects.
Thank you again for your financial support in bringing water back to Penyem and we look forward to more success together in 2008!
Hawa Jallow is one of our scholarship recipients this year. Hawa was born in
Hawa Jallow has big hopes for her village, and wants to contribute to the development of Penyem. Among her thoughts, Ms. Jallow would like to operate a credit union in the village, where she will employ residents of Penyem. In addition, she wants to introduce a Rural Development Association that will focus on health, education and business issues within the village. Completing her courses is the first step necessary for Hawa to achieve her goal of running a business, and Friends of Penyem is delighted to support her in her journey.
In May 2007, Friends of Penyem and village volunteers transformed a raw space in an empty village building into a library. The volunteers cleaned the building, patched holes in the walls, painted, set up a battery powered lighting system, and purchased desks and chairs from a local carpenter. On the final night of the trip, the library was officially opened. Volunteers and residents alike were very excited about the presence of the library and the books and were sure it would change the lives of the residents of Penyem in a substantial way.
Since our trip, Friends of Penyem has eagerly awaited updates on how the library project has progressed. We have learned that library has come up against several challenges which the village and Friends of Penyem are working to overcome. A local person was nominated by the Village Development Committee to act as a salaried librarian, and while he has opened the library every day, we have received word that the students are no longer using the library. We are currently working with local representatives to devise strategies for increasing student interest in the library.
One thing that we’ve learned as a team about working in development is that not everything we set out to do works according to plan. As we learned before with our water project, we may lose some battles in the short term, but being flexible and perseverant can allow us to reach our goals in the long-term. We have experienced setbacks in our library project, and our hope is that with a better understanding of the reasons for the lack of use of the library we will be able to promote the use of the facility once again.
