ecologics – newsletter story

Dunedin South Rotary Club "Make a Difference " Mon 26 May 08

RE: The Donation of Water Pumps to MDA

I am writing this letter on behalf of our project beneficiaries in Mhala, Bushbuckridge in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, and would like to express our heartfelt appreciation on the support that your organisation has continued to offer us, both in providing us with training, ensuring easy access to the water pumps and in this instance exposing the work that we do to others.

In particular, the news of the donation of 3 water pumps by the Rotary Club of Dunedin South could not have come at a better time. Often it can be very frustrating to work in conditions where almost everything is needed by the community, while the resources we have are very limited.

This link, http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A524785 connects to an article by ‘Business day’, one of the leading newspapers in South Africa, in which the conditions of the communities we are working with are described. I would like to urge that you browse through it to get a sense of some of the challenges faced by this community.

The positive thing about the people we work with is that despite the challenges they are faced with, most of them try to make the best of their situation and in many instances, the only way to put food on the table is to use the land (which happens to be the only resource they have in abundance) for vegetable production. Access to water is always a problem for most, and the water pumps have provided a solution to this challenge because of the easy maintenance and the fact that they are manually operated. The current rise in petrol prices in our country have put generators out of reach for many poor people who rely on vegetable production and sales as their source of income.

Our current calculation is that each pump is currently benefiting at least 14 individuals, so the donation of 3 water pumps will directly benefit at least 40 people, with a possibility to have a bigger impact, because in instances where groups work together, they use the vegetables for their households and sell some to generate income to meet their family needs.

Kindly pass our sincere appreciation to the Rotary Club of Dunedin South for this donation and a promise to send them pictures of the projects who will receive the pumps. We will also provide them with regular updates of what is happening to those projects in the future, so that they can see the impact of their investment.

Matsidiso (Tsidi) Mathabela

Programmes Manager

Mineworkers Development Agency, Johannesburg, South Africa

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Home Newsletter Small-scale Mining Small-scale Irrigation Step Action Pump Gravity Concentrator Accessories Downloads Contact Us	ecologics – newsletter story Dunedin South Rotary Club "Make a Difference " Mon 26 May 08 RE: The Donation of Water Pumps to MDA I am writing this letter on behalf of our project beneficiaries in Mhala, Bushbuckridge in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, and would like to express our heartfelt appreciation on the support that your organisation has continued to offer us, both in providing us with training, ensuring easy access to the water pumps and in this instance exposing the work that we do to others. In particular, the news of the donation of 3 water pumps by the Rotary Club of Dunedin South could not have come at a better time. Often it can be very frustrating to work in conditions where almost everything is needed by the community, while the resources we have are very limited. This link, http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A524785 connects to an article by ‘Business day’, one of the leading newspapers in South Africa, in which the conditions of the communities we are working with are described. I would like to urge that you browse through it to get a sense of some of the challenges faced by this community. The positive thing about the people we work with is that despite the challenges they are faced with, most of them try to make the best of their situation and in many instances, the only way to put food on the table is to use the land (which happens to be the only resource they have in abundance) for vegetable production. Access to water is always a problem for most, and the water pumps have provided a solution to this challenge because of the easy maintenance and the fact that they are manually operated. The current rise in petrol prices in our country have put generators out of reach for many poor people who rely on vegetable production and sales as their source of income. Our current calculation is that each pump is currently benefiting at least 14 individuals, so the donation of 3 water pumps will directly benefit at least 40 people, with a possibility to have a bigger impact, because in instances where groups work together, they use the vegetables for their households and sell some to generate income to meet their family needs. Kindly pass our sincere appreciation to the Rotary Club of Dunedin South for this donation and a promise to send them pictures of the projects who will receive the pumps. We will also provide them with regular updates of what is happening to those projects in the future, so that they can see the impact of their investment. Matsidiso (Tsidi) Mathabela Programmes Manager Mineworkers Development Agency, Johannesburg, South Africa << back to main newsletter page