Dorothy's Well.

This is the first jets of water coming out of the well, the borehole was giving a good pressure and will serve 350 school children plus a community of 3500.
The borehole was capped and a well head constructed and a simple hand pump installed.





I was very humbled to see the first water coming from a well built in my wife Dorothy's memory and paid for by the incredible generosity of so many people.


This shows the startling difference between a glass of water from the stream and water from Dorothy's well

A plaque was installed to show everyone that this was Dorothy's well.

Would you use this water for your cup of tea for your family

Prior to the drilling of Dorothy's Well the children walked for over an hour to collect water from this muddy stream which had flowed through a number of villages where there was no sanitation and was used by cattle and wild animals.

This is the water that the children collected to use for drinking, food preparation and washing......we would not even wash our cars with it.

Visit to Tanzania.

I have just returned from a very successful visit to Tanzania where I have commissioned the drilling of our first 'Dorothy's Well

I took with me 3 suitcases of soap and school materials for the schools in Machame. These were gifts from our dedicated fundraisers and were well received by the staff and pupils. The Headteacher from one of the schools is seen here with me opening the gifts with gratitude.

The well contract was given to a Christian based drilling company. They had previously carried out a seismic survey to establish that the geology was likely to provide us with a water source.

The drilling took 2 days and whilst we reached water at 15metres we drilled to 100 metres to ensure a clean and reliable water source.

Once the borehole had been drilled the hole was lined with plastic piping and the cavity filled with gravel to act as a filter.

Tanzanians visit

Dorothy's Well Project is supporting a group of schools who are twinned to schools in County Durham under the British Council project. In early July a group of 6 teachers and Head teachers from Tanzania visited the UK and spend time in their schools. During the busy week they were also given hospitality and a taste of British life in our homes. These pictures cover some of the events.

Durham City Lions support the Tanzanians

Durham City Lions have supported the fund raising project by giving donations and helping run the tombola at our fund raising events. During their recent visit to the UK Lion President Keith Vear, on behalf of the Lions Club, gave the Tanzanians some spending money. They are seen here at an evening hosted by Jim.

Ben said I want to ride my uni-cycle

Our fund raising is progressing well and we are working towards our second well. Our latest supporter is Ben Broome. Ben cycled on his uni-cycle from Edinburgh to Newcastle in August in support of Dorothy's Well Project. This was a significant challenge for this 14 year old young man and his efforts deserve all your support and sponsorship.

Details of how to sponsor Ben are on this poster below, all you need to do is ring him on the number below or email Jim for details.

Our latest news

We have had a busy few months raising funds for our Well in Tanzania and have the tremendous news that we have raised sufficient money to place an order for the drilling of Dorothy's Well and the sufficient of latrines. Work has started on site for the latrines and the well will be sunk in August. With the huge support of our fund raisers we have sufficient funds to continue with a programme to sink an additional well next year, with our ambitions to be able to fund 2 wells during 2010. The impact that this will have on the people of Tanzania is tremendous, children will be able to spend more time in school, whole families will be healthier and have a better standard of living.

We are still busy fund raising: Ben Broome, a 14 year old, from Esh is planning a sponsored unicycle ride from Edinburgh to Durham. We will keep you posted on his progress but I'm sure you will give him your support.

Next year we plan to repeat the coast to coast walk with 12 places being available for walkers who can bring significant sponsorship with them to the event. If you would like to apply for this 190mile walk please contact us through the blog or our emails. Participants in the walk will also be given the opportunity of joining a group of people who will be visiting Tanzania to see the wells and to go on a safari (all at their own expense).

Many thanks to all who have contributed so far, our journey is just beginning and we are focused on building more wells to help the people of Tanzania.