Makeni News April 1999

Dear Friends of Makeni,

We must apologise for not writing to you for so many weeks - this was due to serious problems with our Internet server. Even now these problems have not been resolved but we manage to get through occasionally after scores of failed calls.

Now some news updates:

1. The workshop for the new Computer Course has been upgraded and repaired, and work benches have been installed. It is not ready for use.

2. Voluntary Service, U.K. have identified a computer instructor for us. She is Diane Marie McNeille, who comes to us with excellent qualifications. She is due to arrive in May 1999. She will set up the equipment, decide about the number of UPS's needed, determine the final shape of the Courses [based on the preliminary work done by Dr Anton Dil and Mr Kees van der Wel], advertise for, interview and hire for the post of the Zambian counterpart, and liaise with the City & Guilds of London Institute for international accreditation of our computer courses. We are delighted that a person to run the courses has finally been found. As soon as a revised budget has been drawn up in consultation with Miss McNeille we shall inform you. We express our sincerest thanks to our two consultants in Holland and England, and also to Mr Furnee for his interest in the project. Warm thanks, too, to the Klooster Kerk, The Hague, Holland and Little St Mary's Church, Cambridge, England for making grants towards this new Makeni project.

3. In response to recommendations made in the Settlement Project Evaluation which was done in 1998, a water expert, Mr Chimwang'a Maseka, has completed his survey of the water provision problems of Kalwelwe, Mwomboshi, Chisamba and Mwembeshi Settlement Villages. A 16-page report was compiled; copies are available on request [US$5 for photocopying and postage]. The Executive Committee and settlement staff are studying the report to see what can be done to implement its recommendations. A worrying aspect of the report is the suggestion that we install one borehole for every four families settled - requiring the sinking of many more boreholes than we did in the past. It will make water provision even more expensive.

4. In our attempts to find ways of cutting down on costs of water provision in the settlement villages we have been looking for alternative options to installing electric power lines and electric pumps. Purchase and installation costs of the latter had increased enormously over the years. Also, we found that settlers were unable/unwilling to pay the monthly electricity bills leading to the electricity supplies being cut off. The alternatives we are looking at are:
(a) to use diesel powered pumps. One such a pump and engine has been costed at US$5,000. If we continue to provide one pump for every TEN families (as we did in the past), the cost will work out to US$30,000 for sixty families settled, as against US$44,000 for electricity powered pumps, a considerable saving... Question: will settlers pay for diesel if they failed to pay for electricity?
(b) wind-driven pumps. These come combined with a handpump at US$500 each, constituting a significant saving: for 60 families the cost would come to US$3000 only. Problem: is there sufficient wind in the settlement villages to provide sufficient water? How much extra shall we have to spend on additional water storage facilities to ensure there is always water available? A lot more work needs to be done on exploring the feasibility of this option.

All for now. Please keep our work in your prayers and give it your support in other ways! Best regards,

Yours in Christ,

Fr Pierre J Dil

Very Revd Canon Pierre J Dil,
Dean Emeritus Lusaka Cathedral of the Holy Cross,
Hon. Chairman Makeni Ecumenical Centre
Work address: P O Box 50255, Lusaka, Zambia
Private correspondence: Private Bag RW51313, Lusaka, Zambia
Telephone: Home 260-1-274991 Fax: ditto - after previous notification
Office Fax: 260-1-272437 [office hours only]
e-mail: mecdil@zamnet.zm