First Update

Justin Forzano and Liz Kovalak were the first to arrive in Douala, Cameroon on the 17 May 2008. After some difficulties collecting luggage, and entering the country on the eve of the Nation's Day (20th May), the project could move forward.

We met with Mr. Feh Benjamin, the Divisional Delegate for Rural Engineering and moved to Barombi Village to trace the pipeline again from the source to the village (as well as get out bearings since its been nearly one year since being in the village). The village lies opposite Barombi Lake and is nearly 1.5 hours trek from the main road.

Data was crunched upon return to Kumba (our base city only a few kilometers from Barombi) to determine pipe lengths and other materials to be ordered . We moved to a hardware store where we met a very reliable partner that will be very helpful in this project. We put in orders for the pipes (which will be manufactured in Douala and transported to Kumba). Sand, gravel, tools (shovels, picks, sand bags, etc.) and 20 bags of cement have been paid for and transported across the lake (thanks to members of the village).

Not only is it difficult to transport materials across the lake (the villagers are equipped with 10 man-made canoes and one motor boat that does not work), but the road to the lake is very difficult to travel (unpaved and large hills). It was difficult to convince many people to transport the materials to the lake, but it has been done. Cement is scarce, and the guy who sold it to us will not even provide a receipt. We also picked up the cement on the edge of town in a storage place far from the man's business where we purchased it. *That should give you some insight into some of the challenges we face working in a developing country.

The pipes are arriving at the lake side Friday 30 May. They will be transported across the lake in one day (either by canoes or by head load around the lake). In addition to transporting the materials, members of the community have been clearing the site for the catchment (as it is deep in the "bush") for the past week.

Construction should begin in full force on Monday 2 June: a small group excavating for the catchment, and the rest of the village beginning the tedious task of digging the trench for the pipeline nearly 900 meters.