Melut Kalas Kuis (Good finish)

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back. I hope you enjoy this the next installment of Engineering Africa.

Month's Re-cap

So in my last entry, I discussed the creation of the youngest Nation in Africa. Since then the radio has been heralding possible country names, new national anthems and details of a new constitution. All these things seem so far away as I wake up each morning, down a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, and drive out to the water distribution kiosks that have developed more leaks, broken taps and had fencing torn down - all in the space of 24hours.

Sometimes it feels like I am fighting a losing battle. There are now 10 water distribution kiosks in town, all of which are used from dawn until dusk - this is definately a battle I cannot win. So how do we finish a seemingly unfinishable project. That is what this entry will explore.

Project Agreements

In September 2010, after my arrival in South Sudan. The WASH (Water and Sanitation, Hygiene) programme manager met with Melut local authorities and signed a Memorandum of Understanding. This document detailed an agreement of the work Medair would carry out, and what the community would contribute.

On the Friday the 11th of February I took a number of soda's to one of the new kiosk sites, and congratulated the contractor and a number of his workers. I paid him the last sum and helped fix the clutch on his motorbike. Kalas ('the end'), I thought. The following week Medair ran a two day workshop to facilitate discussions between the Water Management Committee and the local authorities. In a previous workshop, the Water Management Committee had discussed the idea of charging an affordable amount for water from the kiosks. If this were effectively implemented, it could finance the maintenance and development of the town water system, and indeed the entire town.

In this workshop they agreed on an affordable price, and the way the funds should be spent. To my DELIGHT, they agreed that guard should be employed to supervise each of the kiosks. My hope is that this will reduce the petty vandalism that they have suffered so fiercely. Maybe this fight will turn around!

I am very happy to be linked to Melut for the coming year, with a small budget to follow up on their progress.

Girly emotional stuff

So almost two months ago I was sat in Heathrow airport waiting to leave the country. The time has spead by indeed! I am between projects at the moment, which is a painful time for me because I like to be active. The time has been made all the worse by the doctors and project support staff running around with a thousand things to do.

I have been preparing designs and plans for forward projects, and also volunteered to make the Medair 2010 conference Video. The last one was fantastic, developed by our IT genius who is also very busy at the moment. This is a fantastic opportunity to inspire the team through pictures, music and video. After watching the 2009 video and being totally blown away by the work we have accomplished as an organisation, I hope the 2010 video can have the same effect.

So that is all I am going to write about this time - one last thing, since my last entry, the team here were involved in a serious security incident. If you want more information, you will have to come and ask. It made the front page of the BBC news website.

Blessings,