Year 2006 in review

During the year 2006, between the rainy seasons, work was carried on in seven villages. This work included the extension of pipelines, the construction of two catchments and storage tanks and the construction and installation of 18 stand pipes. This work involved digging trenches, laying pipes, back filling the trenches, sifting and transporting sand and cutting and carrying stones to the sites where the catchments and installations were built.

The work was planned and supervised by Sister Cathy Molloy and local water technicians, plumbers and builders, with the contributed labour and financial assistance of the villagers in the communities concerned.

Thanks to the generous support of many people across Canada, in the United States and Japan, The OK Clean Water project was able to wire $46,000.00 in 2006 to support the work in Cameroon. School communities in the Ottawa area have generously helped the project since its beginning. In 2006, Ottawa schools donated over $6,000.00.

But there remains much more to be done. In many of the villages, work has been accomplished in phases depending upon the challenges of a six-month rainy season, the funds available at this end and the capacity of the local villagers to contribute their labour and support. Many of these villages await the completion of their projects and 11 new requests have been received. We hope to be able to continue to support their efforts and to help them realize their aspirations.

We are heartened by reports that water-borne diseases have diminished, that the burden of travelling long distances and carrying water has been reduced and that people are enjoying a better quality of life. When the project began in 2003, our goal was to help 11 single mothers and widows have access to clean water close to their homes and to eliminate their need to depend on polluted streams. What has happened since then feels like a miracle! Our pipe dreams have become their dream pipes!

Prepared by Norma McCoy

September 13, 2007