Life-Giving Water for Needy Students

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Ashlie Hunter
5 years ago
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Raton, Florida 33427-3908 1-800-914-2420

1 2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 PO Box Boca Raton, Florida Life-Giving Water for Needy Students Embulbul, Kenya PROJECT 1255 The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17

2 Project Synopsis Description Install a safe, reliable water system to meet the needs of the nearly 900 students and staff at Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center, as well as the families who live in the surrounding community. Location Embulbul, Kenya an urban slum settlement outside the capital city of Nairobi, composed primarily of makeshift shanties. Affiliation The Congregation of Christian Brothers Cost $13,200, or roughly one-third of the project cost. The school has already raised the other two-thirds. Summary Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center was established in 2000 to give poor street children a wholesome place to learn during the day. Its student body has since grown to encompass both primary and secondary grades. The school currently must purchase water for drinking, cooking and sanitation. The water is expensive and contains a high level of natural fluoride, which is discoloring the students teeth. Community members, including the students families, must purchase water from a donkeydrawn vending cart. When they can t afford it, families go thirsty for days. When they can, their children risk contracting waterborne illnesses that cause long absences from school. Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center wants to establish its own well, which will provide the students, staff and community with ready access to clean, safe water. Local families look forward to accessing an abundant water supply in return for just a small, affordable maintenance fee. Cross Catholic Outreach has successfully partnered with Brother Beausang on past projects and continues to help fund the school s ongoing operation. With your help, we can also help them establish a safe source of water to benefit the poor men, women and children of Embulbul. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in my name, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. Matthew 10:42 1

3 Levis pauses in an alley of Embulbul, a slum that he and other students of Brother Beusang Catholic Education Center call home. The Problem: Parched Throats I have a lot of difficulties, says16-year-old Levis, a student at Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center outside Nairobi, Kenya. Sometimes I have no water. Levis does most of his water drinking at school, because it isn t always available at home. The problem for Levis is that his neighborhood, a slum called Embulbul, has no safe water source. Those who have enough money can buy water from a donkey-drawn vending cart that rolls through the slum s dusty streets. But there is no guarantee that the water they purchase is safe. Depending on the original water source, it sometimes contains parasites or carries waterborne diseases such as typhoid the same risks people take when they draw water out of a stream. But this urban community has limited choices: either buy possibly-tainted water off the donkey cart or go thirsty. Levis poor mother cannot always afford to buy water. So Levis drinks as much as he can at school, knowing he might spend the weekend parched and thirsting for water. Brother Beausang must purchase its water too. Unfortunately, buying water for nearly 900 faculty, staff and primary through secondary students to drink, as well as for cooking and sanitation, is expensive. And while the water they purchase does not carry waterborne diseases, it does contain such a high ratio of natural fluoride that the children s teeth are becoming discolored. Concerned by frequent student absences due to water-related illnesses, the high cost to buy water and the dire community need, the school leadership sees that a change is desperately needed. They want to create their own water system. Now Cross Catholic Outreach is seeking your support to help Brother Beausang achieve this practical, sustainable water solution that will impact their students and the whole community for years to come. 2

The Project: Life-Giving Water A well at Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center will eliminate the expense of buying water, while also enabling the school to provide a safe, inexpensive source of

4 The Project: Life-Giving Water A well at Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center will eliminate the expense of buying water, while also enabling the school to provide a safe, inexpensive source of water for the Embulbul community it serves. This water project entails three phases: 1) Complete all preliminary paperwork and permits, and hire a contractor. 2) Drill a borehole and test the water. 3) Install a pump and piping system, and cap the borehole with a cement platform and tap. The completed water project will not only provide water for Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center and local families; it will also serve a church, dispensary and counseling center that the Christian Brothers operate on the same campus. This simple project has the potential to impact so many lives, and there is no doubt that with your help it can be accomplished! A recent geological survey revealed that the local water table is not too deep. Drilling could be done quickly, and the water could be easily monitored for contaminants and fluoride Children walk through the streets of Embulbul on the way to Brother Beausang primary school. levels. They have also discovered that there is zero risk of the schools drilling a dry hole, which is significant. In some areas, contractors must drill three or more times before they hit water, and the costs escalate accordingly. Most of the materials and labor for this project will be sourced from within the community. This will help boost the local economy and instill a sense of ownership in the project. Once the project is complete, it will require very little maintenance. The contractor will provide a two-year warranty, and the school s maintenance staff will be responsible for routinely replacing the well s filter. To prepare for any repairs in the future, however, the school will sell the water to the community at a rate that people like Levis mom can afford. Those fees will go into a maintenance fund. The prayers of the community will be answered! Peter Shanahan, Principal, Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center 3

Our Ministry Partner Brother Beausang School (now called Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center) first opened its doors in 2000 in a small one-room shelter to reach out to desperately-poor

Even though Kenya began offering free public education in 2003, in reality too few public schools existed to meet the demand for education. As a result, public schools had to turn children away.

Even if they had been admitted, many children could not have afforded the required books and uniforms.

5 Our Ministry Partner Brother Beausang School (now called Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center) first opened its doors in 2000 in a small one-room shelter to reach out to desperately-poor children in the community who could not attend school elsewhere. Many of them were street children orphans living with extended family in the evening but foraging in the streets each day for survival. Even though Kenya began offering free public education in 2003, in reality too few public schools existed to meet the demand for education. As a result, public schools had to turn children away. They also turned away children who were academically behind for the ironic reason that they were previously unable to attend school. Even if they had been admitted, many children could not have afforded the required books and uniforms. These children flocked to Brother Beausang School, which grew to serve both primary and secondary students. Eventually, the classrooms filled to capacity, with many more children desperate to attend. So, in 2007, Cross Catholic Outreach funded construction of a 12-classroom block of a new school facility that would also house science laboratories and a library. That s also when the school adopted its new name. Today Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center teaches 810 primary and secondary students and employs 70 staff members. The school s students still come from the streets of Embulbul and from extremely poor families. They know that the Catholic education Brother Beausang provides is a key to unlocking the bonds of poverty that have ensnared their families for generations. Cross Catholic Outreach continues to support the school s operation and is especially concerned about the health and welfare of its poor students. When the principal brought to our attention the need for affordable access to a ready supply of safe water to share with the community, Cross Catholic wholeheartedly agreed to help fund this important water project. 4

Perpetual Treasure INCOME Funds already raised from other donors $24,896 BUDGETED EXPENSES Geological and environmental surveys, reports and fees $1,328 Borehole drilling and water testing $18,959

6 Perpetual Treasure INCOME Funds already raised from other donors $24,896 BUDGETED EXPENSES Geological and environmental surveys, reports and fees $1,328 Borehole drilling and water testing $18,959 Pumping system, concrete slab and well cap $11,532 Monitoring, evaluation, administration and project management $6,277 TOTAL Budgeted Expenses: $38,096 BALANCE of funds needed to complete the project $13,200 Please Join Cross Catholic Outreach in meeting this need! Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center has raised enough funds to drill the borehole and to cover most of the testing and administration costs. Cross Catholic Outreach has committed to covering the costs to install the pumping system, concrete slab and well cap, as well as a portion of the testing. Cross Catholic will also cover the costs it incurs for project oversight, accountability and fundraising. This project provides a practical way to store up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20) while making an impact that will last for generations for as long as the water flows! A well on the school campus will provide a cost-effective source of water for its 810 students to drink. All the students and the whole community in the years to come will derive benefits from the borehole project. They will feel that God takes care of his people. Mercilinus Ounde, Development Officer, Brother Beausang Catholic Education Center 5

7 Your gift will help make it possible for Levis and needy students like him to drink water on weekends. Quench Their Thirst! Psalm 23 is my favorite Bible verse, says Levis, because it says the Lord is my Shepherd and I should not be afraid. Levis clings to his faith a faith instilled at Brother Beausang School even as his throat remains dry and parched. He refuses to fear the future, trusting the Lord to provide his next breath and the next. Yet Christ, the Good Shepherd, relies on his body, the Church, to help his beloved sheep, especially the poor. At Cross Catholic Outreach we consider it an honor to help deliver his provision. Won t you join with us to quench the thirst of nearly 900 students and staff, plus the larger Embulbul community, for generations to come? Your gift could literally save lives! Help provide life-giving water to people whose throats are parched, so men, women and children will never have to go thirsty again including Levis, who can say, The Lord is my Shepherd he leads me beside the still waters. By this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 Our Promise to You! Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred during the current calendar year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry. 6 [nb1405] 2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 PO Box Boca Raton, Florida Cross Catholic Outreach. Cost-effectively written, designed and printed in-house.

St. John Bosco Rehabilitation Center

2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 PO Box 273908 Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908 1-800-914-2420 St. John Bosco Rehabilitation Center Kitale, Kenya PROJECT 0568 Jesus said, Let the little children come to