Project Description

 

Eastern Cape, Transkei.
Bulungula/Nqileni is a village of about 750 people on the east coast of South Africa. No power supply lines, rails or roads lead to this small, rural village by the Indian Ocean. The Transkei was a homeland of the Xhosa people during Apartheid and today its infrastructure is still undeveloped.

As the rate of unemployment is very high there is an enormous migration into towns, often the townships of big cities.
A few years ago, Dave took it upon himself to try to deal with this phenomenon by making life in the countryside more attractive again. Together with the people of Bulungula he built and runs a backpackers hostel, also part-owned by them. For more information visit: www.bulungula.com

 

In 2007, many children died from diseases associated with polluted water. As a result, Dave asked us if we could organise and install potable water facilities in Bulungula. The government plans to connect the rural areas to the main water supply system in the next five to ten years but not only is that a long time, it is debatable whether this can be depended upon.

Currently the situation in Bulungula is that there are five springs which are unprotected and subject to contamination. They are used by people as well as by livestock and they are fed from groundwater. Our project is to protect these springs and to create awareness for water quality, hygiene and water protection.

Therefore the project consists of two main parts: The technical realisation of achieving potable water, run in tandem with and an educational programme.
The organisation is structured as follows. We have been meeting approximately every six weeks since October 2007 to exchange ideas, to plan and to coordinate the technical and educational aspects of the project. We (6 of us) intend to travel to South Africa in July-Sept. 2008 to carry out our plans.