Jim Boland spoke on Quincy Rotary’s funding for water wells in Kenya. If you missed the meeting, you missed a moving story about the power of fresh water in the world.
How many gallons of water do we Americans use per day? The answer: roughly 101.5 gallons per person daily! By contrast, the availability of clean water in Kenya is much less and more complicated.
Enter Dr. Cathy Fitzgerald, a Ph.D. in Engineering, with a background in hydrology. In 2004, Dr. Fitzgerald led UNR graduate students to Kenya to work on water projects. She was looking for sponsors. Enter Quincy Rotary who was seeking a meaningful project in one of the 7 areas of focus of Rotary International: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, saving mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies, and protecting the environment. Dr. Fitzgerald’s project fit the bill.
Over 18 years now, Dr. Fitzgerald, with Quincy Rotary’s financial support, has led teams who drilled at least 7 water wells by hand, and installed low tech pump systems in Kenyan villages. In 2022, a completed well costs $2750. This year, Quincy Rotary budgeted $1000 towards the well project, seeking additional pledges to cover the cost.
Prior to Covid, Dr. Fitzgerald trained a team of local well drillers who managed to drill four wells from 2020 to 2021. Two additional wells were drilled this past 2022 summer, with funding coming from Dr. Fitzgerald herself. A pledge of $1000 helps tremendously to continue this good work.
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