Hope Foundation Cameroon - Volunteering Reports

Water Project August-September 2007

In the months of August and September 2007, Hope Foundation organized a volunteering work camp which had as objective the rehabilitation of a depreciated water point in the town of Bertoua, capital of the Eastern province of Cameroon. This project was prompted by the decrepitude nature of the target water point as had been observed by us as well as facts from a study carried out in November 2006 reporting that barely 30% of the local population had access to safe drinking water. The same report attributed most of the diseases suffered in this region by children and women to the unhealthy nature of their drinking water.

[image] The water point to be rehabilitated was and still is the source of water to close to 90 households. It had not been subject to any renovation since its construction by the German colonial masters in 1918. No doubt it was in total decrepitude: pipes old, rusted and almost blocked with accumulated dirt, walls shabby, slimy and broken, drainage system blocked, the reservoir a habitat for toads, cockroaches, worms…Needless saying that the water point was in dire need of some renovation.

It is in this light that Hope Foundation invited a number of international volunteers to come join hands with their local counterparts in building the capacities of the local community through training and necessary assistance so as to enable them to plan, manage and maintain water infrastructure, reinstating the hygiene service in order to step up the fight against poor sanitation. This was a challenging experience for the five international volunteers in particular given their tender ages and they fact that they had to raise some of the money needed for the project and then travel all the way to Cameroon, where they spent three and a half weeks implementing the project.

Three volunteers came from Germany: Morritz Bitterling, Verena Voll and Verena Becker. They donated a second handed laptop and a carton of medication to Hope Foundation and an orphanage respectively. Two came from the U.S.: Brian Grace and Bill Orlando.

[image] The first phase of the projected consisted of creating an environment, conducive for work. Local and international volunteers were involved in grass cutting, digging of drainages and mud extraction from the abandoned reservoir. The second phase was directed at molding of cement blocks, breaking of old walls, and enhancing the drainage system. The third phase which coincided with the third week of work saw the building of new walls around the water point, replacement of the old pipes and the putting in place of a new reservoir. The reservoir had a lid made of concrete to protect from dirt and creepy-crawlies as well as to permit easy access for cleaning. A new drainage system to enable the evacuation of water was also constructed.

This work was carried out in three weeks and at the end, the volunteers were very pleased with worked done and what had been achieved. The local community was very thankful to the group of five volunteers from abroad, to the local ones who joined them as well as to Hope Foundation.

[image] At Hope Foundation, we see the Bertoua Water Point Project as our contribution to the world meeting the MDG target for drinking water and sanitation. The Millennium Development Goals have set us on a common course to push back poverty, inequality, hunger and illness. The world has pledged to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. Hope Foundation is part of the world which made the pledge.

Names of Volunteers:

Brian Grace (30 year, USA)
Morritz Bitterling (18 years, Germany)
Verena Voll (18 years, Germany)
Verena Becker (18 years, Germany)
Bill Orlando (26 years, USA)