Tanzania Water Project
In February, two of St. Mark’s members, Lee Sundermeier and his brother, Alan Sundermeier, were invited to travel to Kashasha, Tanzania to the home village of Wellington Kamala’s family. Wellington and his wife, Moja, members of St. Mark’s have a home in the village.
While visiting the village, Lee, Alan and the rest of the group were interested in the ways of the village. School was in session while they were there and they noticed that the children of the primary school (enrollment about 300) were carrying water to the school in buckets and other containers. They learned that there was no running water for drinking in the school and each day, one of the grade levels took a turn carrying water from a man-made shallow pond to the school to drink. The water in the pond is not fresh and often the children became ill from the parasites that were in the water.
The thought of small children not having access to potable water broke the men’s hearts and they started to discuss how they could help.
What they discovered was that if the rain that fell on the roof of the school could be captured and contained like in a cistern, this could be a way to improve the water for the children. The Sundermeier’s and the Kamala’s came back to Bowling Green with the idea. Sandra Sundermeier, Alan’s wife, is a Bowling Green Rotarian and she pitched the idea of a rainwater holding tank for the school. Then the word about this idea was introduced to the local Kiwanis Club. Both clubs that do so much work for the benefit of children agreed that this was a good project, but they wanted to do more. They decided to add a filtration system. The water would pour off the roof, into a pipe leading to a large holding tank like a small water tower. Then, the water was piped from the tank, through a filter and then into a clean water tank where spigots could be opened by the children and fresh water would flow into their personal water bottles.
Six thousand dollars (US) was needed for the project. The Rotarians, Kiwanians and St. Mark’s contributed generously and now, only 8 months later, the children of the village school have fresh and delicious water to enjoy and nourish their bodies.
We praise God for a trip that was made for pleasure became a mission to REACH OUT in Christ to provide life-giving water!
