At The Well: Water is Basic Quaterly
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Transcript of At The Well: Water is Basic Quaterly
2 the water is basic quarterly
let ter from the presidentDear Friends of Sudan,
Some months ago we received an appeal from Celestin Musekura, President of alarm inc , who
was in Southern Darfur at the time. It seems with most organizations getting ejected from Darfur
by the government, the situation in the idp camps was beyond description and the need for water
is great. Being that Celestin is one of the founding visionaries behind Water is Basic, we listened
closely but this project belongs to Sudan — they have to make the call on moving a rig so far away.
So, we immediately contacted the wib team in the South and they decided to send our head-
drilling chief on a fact-finding mission to see the need first hand and to analyze logistics.
Six weeks ago we received a budget for drilling 50 wells in Darfur. This effort requires some
additional equipment and will move one of our rigs a great distance, but it all appears within
reach. At about $7,000 per well, the budget is more than what it costs in the South, but still very
double. Three weeks ago we initiated the first wire transfers to fund the purchase of two used
trucks that will carry the additional materials needed so drilling can begin the first week of April.
The wib team continues to increase with partners all over the country and donations from $1.00
to $25,000 keeping the clean, fresh water of life f lowing. With the increased cost of drilling in
Darfur we will need to increase our monthly cash flow from just about $30,000 per month to
almost $50,000.
We need your help. We need it financially & we need you to help us spread the word. Water is Basic
drills two boreholes per week, every week, in Sudan and every dollar goes directly to saving lives.
In fact, in the South, 6 quarters, a $1.50, provides clean water for one person for 20 years and in
Darfur, it only takes $3.50 to improve someone’s life in unknowable ways.
Will you join us?
There is a lot going on and waterisbasic.org is the best place to see all that is happening. We
update the website regularly with new images, stories and
well reports.
Thank you for being a part of changing Sudan. Darfur, here we come!
steve roese, president of water is basic
p.s. No matter the result of the referendum water is desperately needed in Darfur and will
continue to be needed.
the table of contents 3
board of directors
steve roese President
tommy tucker Board Member
jim holloway Board Member
gregg murry Director of the Board
amy goddard Board Member
table of contents
featured article page 4
well 300
the well list update
page 6
our recent trip to sudan page 10
funding page 8
PHOTOS BY TREY HILL PHOTOGRAPHY
4 the water is basic quarterlyc
It’s march 30, 2011 in northwestern
sudan and the eight men known as Water
Is Basic Team B kick clods from their muddy
boots. They’re tidying up the work site —
stacking pipe, cleaning gear, securing tools in
the truck for a bumpy ride to the next location.
And they’re smiling.
They have worked together for three years,
braving rainy seasons, rig repairs, stuck
vehicles, long trips away from home, threats
from animal attack, threats from people, and
even an arrest. All that to arrive at this place.
Akoite Payam on the Darfur border. Another
camp. Another swarm of grateful people.
Another muddy mess to clean up. This one is
like all the rest save for its number. 300.
As their caravan lurches away from the work
site in the evening dusk, they all know where
they’re headed — a day’s drive toward Abyei
where the team leader can get reception for
his cell phone and report that Water Is Basic
well #300 is working. More than half a million
Sudanese have access to clean water now who
didn’t have before. It’s a remarkable milestone
even among a seeming torrent of milestones
flowing out of Sudan these days. An end to
decades of war, a historic vote, a new nation,
a global humanitarian effort, a million newly
displaced persons with rising hopes of having
a home. According to Water Is Basic President
Steve Roese, that hope is what these teams are
really drilling for. “These are truly desperate
people,” Roese said. “I’ve seen some of them
just sleeping under trees. They don’t even
have enough to make a hut.” So progress is
not just measured in boreholes but in health,
education and souls. The villages receiving
well number 300 Published in Chatter Magazine, June 2011
new wells have been transformed by those
wells. Children can attend school instead of
spending hours fetching water. Neighboring
tribes live in relative peace instead of fighting
over springs. There is less disease and better
hygiene. Meanwhile, since drilling began, every
member of the Water Is Basic teams has trusted
Christ and been baptized in water from wells
they drilled.
This year the crews are again outpacing past
performance.“We’re just getting better at it,
more efficient,” Roese said. “And the soils are
different where we are now, not as rocky. Plus,
the crews have been away from their families
for a long time now. I think the longer they’re
gone, the faster they work.” Still, drilling wells
in the African bush is never without challenges.
That softer clay-like soil in the North has
caused problems with a mud pump. Travel is
difficult and often interrupted by people or
nature. And once, Team A was mistaken for
spies and arrested. “They were getting ready
to drill and getting out all this equipment,”
Roese said. “Some South Sudan police thought
it looked suspicious and arrested them, but it
wasn’t long or abusive. They let them go as soon
as they understood what they
were doing.”
For all its success (300 professionally drilled
wells at an average cost of $3,470 is admirable
among agencies who provide similar services),
Roese said the future of Water Is Basic isn’t just
in drilling faster and staying out of jail. “I think
the goal has always been for this to be self-
sustaining,” he said. “I feel the need to see this
all the way through until the work inside Sudan
is getting all of its funds from inside
the country.”
“Dirty water brings a lot of bad stuff — disease,
sickness, death. If you stop those things, you
can start to dream again.” It takes trained eyes
to spot those dreams. Hope in Sudan isn’t rising
with political placards or stock indexes. It’s
measured in corrugated metal. “In the six years
since they’ve had the peace treaty, I’ve seen
differences every time I f ly in,” he said. “There
used to not be any metal roofs on anything.
Now most buildings have it. Why? Because if
you’re expecting to f lee for your life, you don’t
invest in anything you can’t take with you.”
this one is like all the
rest save for its number.
300.well 300 5
PHOTO BY TREY HILL PHOTOGRAPHY
6 the water is basic quarterly
new wells in sudanVisit www.waterisbasic .com/wells for exact GPS locations and follow us @waterisbasic for quick updates on the new wells in Sudan and Africa .
Teams A B
location: ganji payam icost: $3964dig time: 4 days
location: komoyi boma icost: $3868dig time: 4 days
the well list update 7
well informationlocation: payawa community iicost: $2716dig time: 6 days
location: rumbel payam icost: $4002dig time: 3 days
location: longaju boma i cost: $3814.8dig time: 3 days
location: achen maccost: $4049dig time: 3 days
location: abua bomacost: $3757dig time: 3 days
location: mabirom boma iicost: $4061dig time: 3 days
location: apui boma icost: $3997.2dig time: 3 days
location: mayomagot boma iicost: $3964dig time: 3 days
location: malek alek secondary schoolcost: $2624dig time: 5 days
location: dumo co-opcost: $3997.2dig time: 6 days
location: dok boma icost: $3923.2dig time: 3 days
location: kololo primary schoolcost: $3772dig time: 5 days
location: amom payam iicost: $4012dig time: 3 days
location: mizalo boma iicost: $3967dig time: 4 days
location: rianymankuck bomacost: $4009.12dig time: 3 days
location: tali payam icost: $3854.8dig time: 3 days
location: rorayi payam iicost: $4008dig time: 3 days
location: aweil north boma ii cost: $2716dig time: 6 days
location: mangar akotcost: $4103dig time: 3 days
location: wajable boma iicost: $4068dig time: 2 days
location: kanja community icost: $3028dig time: 6 days
location: pantitcost: $4049dig time: 3 days
location: malou payam iicost: $4006dig time: 3 days
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water is basic is maturing and morphing even as the country
changes.
8 the water is basic quarterly
our most recent visit to sudanWritten by Steve Roese
accomplished on this trip:
S Agreement on two year going
forward plan where we hope to
create and provide 100% of wib
funding from within
South Sudan
S Secured Lujulo Springs supplies
from Kampala
S Secured investment funding
in Lujulo
S Are one step away from hiring
the factory and marketing director
S Plan for pilot cell charging
business are in place
S Meetings will take place
tomorrow with Rural Water
Commission on establishing
program to require financial
participation of communities
in establishing wells for other
communities
S Established a base line of $500
per community per well
each year
our recent visit 9
APRIL 4TH, 2011 on board Eagle
Air flight Yei, Republic of South
Sudan to Entebbe, Uganda via
Arua, Uganda. Looking over
the jagged mountains that our water
bottling project is named for.
This visit was short but very
productive. Water is Basic is maturing
and morphing even as the country
changes. I am very proud of that.
wib was set up to serve and help the
local leadership, it’s their vision their
problem their solution…their
new nation.
The establishment of wib as a local
run project with local control was “out
of the box” to begin with. They have
completed 350 wells in three years…
unheard of success!
Now we are looking to do the same as
we establish businesses that build the
nation, provide employment, and fund
wib…unheard of ideas in this “4th
world” nation.
Here is why we are doing this.
Two days ago we visited the people
of itc well completed on 8.21.2009
( go to waterisbasic.org for photos). As
the women and children gathered we
began to hear about how they used to
walk 2 kilometers to gather water from
a small pond. So low was the water in
the dry season that they would wait
hours to fill a Jerry can. The process
of gathering the equivalent of one
flush of an American toilet…was an
all day adventure! They did this every
day, not so they could flush but so
they could survive another day!
This is why you should be very proud
of your investments in wib.
Even as we left the compound to head
to the airport, a crew was heading out
to drill another well. The other rig is
waiting up north for the rainy season
to end. We are partnering with A
Drop In The Bucket to drill 20 wells in
Northern Bahl el Gazal.
We are looking for 250 new partners
to commit to $1,000/ year until we
are internally self funded. Would you
help us find those 250 new partners?
Would you seriously consider being
one yourself?
That’s less than $20.00 per week.
That’s $10.00 per well. That’s a small
investment with a return you won’t
find anywhere else.
Thank you for staying in the game
with us and the wonderful people of
Southern Sudan.
PHOTO BY TREY HILL PHOTOGRAPHY
10 the water is basic quarterly
current budget
differences in budgetsdivision of u.s. budget
division of sudan budget
u.s. operating budgetpersonal
salaries $79,000 expenses $18,000
operational
travel $12,000 internet $360 social media $6,000 marketing $6,000 administrative $3,600 fundrasing $5,000 sudan funds $120,000
total $249,960
sudan operating budgetpersonal
salaries $92,000 expenses $10,000
operational
crises wells $100,000 preferred provider wells $200,00 village partner wells $100,00 marketing $6,000
total $249,960
funding 11
current statistics & goals
Our goal is to produce all of our funding within
the Republic of South Sudan by 2014. Until then
we need your help to keep the rigs working.
Along with our local initiatives to become self
funded, we are asking 250 people to commit to
$1,000 per year through 2013. These funds will
give us a base in which to operate day-to-day,
ensure there is no let up in drilling and give us
the space to work on each of our local
funding initiatives.
Invest in nation building and help us give the
gift of clean water by giving now. 100 percent
of your donation supplies clean drinking water
in Sudan. $1.50 provides clean water for one
person. $100 provides clean water for 67 people.
$5,000 provides clean water for an entire
village and the surrounding community. There
are two ways to support Water is Basic:
ONLINE www.waterisbasic.org
CHECK VIA MAIL
Water is Basic
2435 Kinwest Parkway
Irving, TX, 75063, USA