Budget question

By Peer Water Exchange Posted on Wed 22 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

You include the following costs:

-Project Manager: $850
-Hydrogeologist: $750

Is that per well? Then, it appears that the project manager gets 12x$850 for 12 wells? That seems high.

Are there any efficiencies gained by digging all (or several) wells at one go?

Thanks,
Rajesh

Budget question

By The Samburu Project Posted on Fri 24 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

I actually reworked our budget as we head into the next well drill our numbers are clearer. The project manager number was high as you suspected. This number was based on less wells being drilled. As you know we do drill all the wells at one go and this helps with costs, but the process from the onset of community mobilization through the completion of the wells can take from 4-6 months. It is a long and arduous road. If nothing else, this work has taught me patience.

Thanks!

KK

Sustainability plan:

By Tanzania Mission to the Poor and Disabled (PADI) Posted on Sat 18 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

It seems the community contribution for wells maintenance is very positive, $1,200 per year per well is a lot of money which need proper security and monitoring to avoid misuse of the money which may lead to discouragement to the members to contribute in future.

• Can you briefly tell us which mechanism do you use to ensure the safety of the money they collect per well and you as an organization how you can be ensured that all individual contribute?
• If one fail to contribute what measures are being taken?
• What about those who may not have anything to contribute like aged people, what arrangement is made to ensure they get daily requirement of water?
Thanks
Msigwa

Sustainability plan:

By The Samburu Project Posted on Thu 23 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Hi Msigwa!

Hope you are well. Can't believe it's been nearly a year since we were together in Samburu.

Can you briefly tell us which mechanism do you use to ensure the safety of the money they collect per well and you as an organization how you can be ensured that all individual contribute?

Community funds are administered solely by the community and its Water Committee. Since our communities have ownership of their wells, this is their responsibility. Our team assists communities to strengthen their systems through ongoing training and support.

If one fail to contribute what measures are being taken?

This would be a collective decision made by the community and its Water Committee.

What about those who may not have anything to contribute like aged people, what arrangement is made to ensure they get daily requirement of water?

Contributions are made by household, not individuals. In the Samburu family structure, the elderly live within a greater household and would therefore be taken care of.

Thanks!

Kristen

Sustainability plan:

By Tanzania Mission to the Poor and Disabled (PADI) Posted on Sat 25 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Hi Kristen, is true is almost a year now,but hope that you still doing good in supporting Marginalized people in Samburu.

Many thanks for your respond to my questions I requested for clarification.
Regards
Msigwa

Well repairmen?

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Thu 16 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Water is a definite need in this area and I like the project. However, in my experience with Afridev Handpumps in eastern and southern africa, I always come across many many pumps that are broken down....even when a 'well committee' is in place.

The biggest issues have been committees that don't function properly; money that was stolen by one of the committee members; no parts available or too far away; and an undertrained well repairmen...or no well repairman.

You mentioned in the proposal 'a trained repairman' will fix the well if needed. Who is this repairman, how was he trained, are there parts available locally (not from the drilling company) and who is working with these committees to ensure they function as they should?

I look forward to your response
Paul

Well repairmen?

By Together Association for Development and Environment Posted on Thu 16 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

The man whom employed to maintain the system is trained through me as the system designer and also have additional training from the government drilling company.

2- The committee is part from the community and they supervised by the civil society organization which already existed in the community.

Well repairmen?

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Fri 17 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Thank you for the response Sameh. It is good to hear there is existing organizations in the community to help monitor and maintain the wells.

I still have 2 questions:
1. How will the repairman find parts for the wells. I know it is often times difficult to obtain the necessary spares in such rural areas.
2. Also, how will money be collected from the beneficiaries and who will monitor these funds?

Thank you
Paul

Well repairmen?

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Fri 17 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Sameh, maybe i missed this in the proposal, but how is 'Together Association for Development and Environment' associated with the Samburu project? Are you contracted by Samburu to implement a specific portion of the project?

Well repairmen?

By Together Association for Development and Environment Posted on Sat 18 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Dear Friends
I don't now what mean of contracted by Samburu to implement a specific portion of the project . and what the Samburu ,
All the activity implement in the filed by our association and with the partners (CDAs).
We have the professional staff work in our system.
Thanks

Well repairmen?

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Sat 18 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Obviously there is some miscommunication. I am on 'The Samburu Project' proposal page to drill 12 new wells in Samburu Kenya. Which project are you discussing Sameh?

Paul

Well repairmen?

By The Samburu Project Posted on Thu 23 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Paul...

We would love to know a better solution to the Afridev Handpump. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Yes, of course, there are repairs needed but we train communities to make those repairs and have a team on the ground to assist them if need be. The biggest issues are wore out rubbers and broken rods.

Our team on the ground does ongoing trainings with water committees. Our biggest issue is that if no repairs are needed and there is money in the fund it will be used for something else like hospital or school fees. We have to convince committees to save the money for a rainy day (or not so rainy day!).

Each well community gets spare parts at the time of the well drill. Also, The Samburu Project has a stock of spare parts that can be purchased at cost.

The trained repairman is from one of our first well communities. He learned about well repair initially in a 2007 training. Since then, he has working with our drilling contractors and hydrogeologist on a yearly basis to learn the ins and outs of well repair.

Thanks!

Kristen

Well repairmen?

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Fri 24 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Hello Kristen,

Thank you for your response.

I believe the Afridev is one of the best pumps for rural areas and install them myself and have yet to find anything better. However, the failure point for these pumps is the Maintenance. Replacing rods and rubber seals is the easy part......but easily attaining parts and people to do it properly is the difficult task.

Overall your program looks very well thought out with most of the components in place. Concentrating on the long term sustainability is long and arduous work, and hard to fund raise for, however, I would encourage delving deeper into this as you move forward to ensure these pumps keep working even after Samburu project is gone.

Here is a program model being used in Mozambique which you may have already heard about. If not, i've written down the main components... if you are interested.

1. Health and Hygiene training, targeting women and children: Once people value clean water, they will pay for it!

2. SUPPLY: There must be a supply chain for spare parts. Samburu Project should not be the main supplier in the region. Thus, local businesses should be approached and encouraged (in some fashion) to stock the necessary supplies from the nearest Afridev supplier. This can be done in several ways with necessary pricing caps.

3. Well repairmen: There needs to be several certified (by SKATT or another reputable org) well repairmen available in the region. If one is not available, then the 2nd or 3rd one can attend to the problem. In Mozambique, the NGO's had helped establish a Well Repairman Association which was recognized by the government as the official org. to repair wells.
Their contacts, details, and price ranges were delivered to each Village Well Committee to be used in the event of a breakdown.
These well repairmen were scattered across the area to service the wells closest to them...usually within bicycle riding distance. They were supported with sets of appropriate necessary tools and met quarterly with govt. officials to report on repairs made, issues, etc.

4. Water Committee; yes, each village needs one of these, and you are wise to allow them to sort out their own ways of dealing with their financial issues, collection, etc. The success of the Water Committee depends on the success of the Education on Health and Hygiene in the communities. As stated before,....if people value the clean water, they will definitely take care of it and pay for it.

Just one of many possibilities to ensure these pumps will still be working in 20 years.

Re: Well repairmen?

By Peer Water Exchange Posted on Fri 24 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Thanks, this is good discussion and learning for me too.

We hope to grow and enhance this platform to support you to manage and track your well for 20 years.

As discussed with Paul, we want to maintain inventory and track maintenance issues and bring in service providers into the mix. Hope to get time and support to develop this feature soon.

Regards,
Rajesh

Well repairmen?

By The Samburu Project Posted on Sat 25 Aug 2012, over 11 years ago

Paul...

Clearly, we have lots to commiserate about in the world of water. Yes, long term sustainability is long and arduous work. If I had known what it took, I may not have made the decision to get into this world seven years ago!!! Nonetheless, not a day goes by that I'm not thinking about the end game.

One of the reasons we have localized our work in one region is for this very reason. Not only is this beneficial from a management point of view, but we have also found it to be incredibly effective in terms of cross-pollination from community to community. If one community can't manage their well repair, a neighboring community has the knowledge/skill to help them out. There are actually resources out there beyond The Samburu Project.

One of the things my team on the ground has been working on is the supply chain which would include an all-in-one service person(s) that has the knowledge for well repair and stocks the spare parts. As the number of wells in our District has grown, it has become a really viable business opportunity. I love the idea of taking the supply chain and maintenance support away from The Samburu Project and putting it the the hands of a social entrepreneur.

Can you tell me more about SKATT? Do they have an office in Nairobi?

John Nyagwencha from ACI was in Samburu with me for a PWX mini-conference in the field last August. He may be able to give you more insight into our work on the ground.

Thanks!

Kristen