Aran (Director of Communications and Relations with Schools):
Funds for Underpriveliged Schools
"We are aiming to donate €2,500 each to 2 under-privileged schools in the local
Al and myself met with the principles of the two schools last week and asked them to put together a wish list of equipment the children could benefit from. Holy
From our point of view, as a group, these are great things to be providing for children who otherwise wouldn't have access to this type of equipment."
Donal (Director of Relations and Communications with Wells for Zoe)
The second benefactor of the funds raised will be Irish humanitarian organisation Wells For Zoe (WFZ)What started out as a small project to provide safe and clean water to a few villages in Malawi in Eastern Africa has now become a growing humanitarian organisation involved with land Irrigation, farming, micro-credit systems and training for some of the poorest people on the planet. Wells For Zoe is now involved with communities in over 80 locations around beautiful Malawi.
Last October some of us had the fortune to visit a few of the villages where WFZ is bringing about such positive changes to communities. To see the work in action, first hand, and to walk past previously baron land now full of vegetable crops is something else.
WFZ operates on a "hand up not a hand out" principle and is dedicated to working within local village structures to promote the dignity that comes with ownership. WFZ views provision of water as being the first step on the development ladder.
We aim, through our nut-numbing malarkey in Bonnie Scotland to raise 2500 Euro.
I asked John Coyne what this amount of money could translate into in Malawi and he sent me this reply:
" When we manufacture the pumps in Mzuzu later in the year we expect they will cost 30 to 35 euro each. When you add the cost of the cement and a little steel fitting a complete well works out at about €100. This can give water to a village of at least 100 people.
Quickly doing the Maths!! its Water for Life for €1.
At Easter 10 DIT students helped a community to build a 3 classroom school where materials cost little over €2500.
€2500 would buy quarter of a million Bananas, 130 bags of Fertiliser, 500 bags of maize in the cheap season.
It could buy 5000 day old chicks.
It could the capital to fund (zero interest) micro credit to 10 villages.
It could enable a village to become food secure and lead to self sufficiency.
It could buy 20 cows, 5000 fruit tree seedlings or plant a small forest.
Give clean water to at least 2500 poor villagers, putting then on the first rung of the development ladder.
Send 30 girls to Secondary school.
Clothe 1500 of the poorest children
Train and equip 150 villagers in beekeeping
Pay 10 farm labourers for a year.
These are some things it could do, but much of our work is based on Inspiration, Education and Challenge and only costs an odd bit of maize, some oil, some fish and some seeds, (which we have started to propagate on our farm), as a gesture.
Their power often comes from here, little cost, some time and huge rewards for all.
It's a long slow process, but we see all that has failed.
Money has its place, but its not the most important
Well done to all of you.
Take a look at http://wellsforzoe.wordpress
and have a look through the pics. Motivating a community."
Peace out.
