This year’s Christian Aid Week house-to-house collection will take place between 12th – 18th May and will raise money to provide clean, safe drinking water and improved sanitation for 20,000 people in rural Zimbabwe. The target for the week from the public is ?40,000 and, as in previous years, an application will be made for this to be matched pound for pound by the International Development Committee of Tynwald.
Local Chairman of the Churches Together in Mann World Development Committee, Paul Craine expects more than 300 collectors to be calling at houses across the Island during Christian Aid Week in addition to a number of fundraising events.
“There is no more effective way of helping some of the world’s poorest people. A donation given through an experienced, non-government organisation such as Christian Aid, using a trusted local partner to provide safe drinking water makes such a difference to poor villages. Access to clean drinking water transforms communities. It reduces water-borne illnesses and stops children dying needlessly from stomach bugs.”
For over a decade, Zimbabwe has endured multiple shocks including erratic rainfall, widespread drought and a violent political crisis which brought the economy to a standstill. An ill-conceived land reform programme destroyed the rural economy and led to a shortfall in food production. The cost of living has soared and health and education services have collapsed.
Christian Aid has been working in Zimbabwe since 1980 with a very small team that works with local partner organisations. The money collected in the Isle of Man will be used to provide and upgrade Elephant Pumps in 50 locations in the Manicaland province in eastern Zimbabwe, on the border with Mozambique. These pumps use very simple technology and local resources so that they can be maintained and repaired by the local community. Across Africa, over two million people already access clean drink water through the use of Elephant Pumps. The partner organisation working to install the pumps will be ‘The Africa Trust’.
The photograph shows how the pumps work. As the handle is turned, water is drawn up from a depth of up to 30 metres via a central pipe by washers attached to a rope. The technology is based on a 2000 year old Chinese design. As the pump is fully enclosed it excludes sources of contamination.
Each pump will have two or three ‘water-minders’ who will receive training in how to manage the water points. There will also be health and hygiene education programmes for each community.
Paul Craine says: “I hope that the people of the Isle of Man will once again give generously to show our concern over the desperate levels of poverty that exist in some parts of the world. We may be only a small island but we can make an enormous difference to the lives of these 20,000 people.”
A launch service for Christian Aid Week will be held at St James’s Church, Dalby on Sunday 12th May at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome and a special invitation is extended to Christian Aid Week collectors.
