OXJAM

WATER NIGHT

WATER NIGHT 6th May

SQUEALING FILTH - Oh yeah!
OVER THE WALL - that's Gav and Ben to you and I!
MINUS WON - three mathemusicians not to be missed!
CALL TO MIND - there from the sneck but don't let that put you off - they are pretty.

a wee dj set or two from martin (might even play popcorn!)
sound courtesey of frazer (famous presenter of my dad's records!)

Clinic (it's at the end of byres road opposite western and it is yellow)
8pm
4 bargainous pounds
All for Chembe Water Project, Malawi

Everyone should come because it is shaping up to be a good one!

Love from Laura
ps. if anyone requires any tips on how to skive please contact me at any time - i am queen!
pps. to hear the bands go to www.myspace.com/thirstyforwater

I'm still alive...

It's been a while since I looked on here and I thought perhaps I will post the latest in my quest for clean water in cape maclear.

Another bands night is in mind for April hopefully starring the band I have long awaited for my bands night.. I wont say who in case they don't make it and disappointment ensues.

There are plans in place for 4 engineers from Glasgow Uni to travel to Cape Maclear for a month this summer and help so I really hope that a lot of money is raised by then for materials. These guys will be led by Darren who is a Civil Engineer graduating this summer. I am excited at the prospect of the work that is getting done.

On a more personal level I would love to return this summer but due to my imminent graduation I am required to make some 'life decisions' and gather some funds (firstly of course I must pay off the debts!).

I have plans to apply for a research post and have a couple of little ideas along the international development/renewable energies line.. all will come together (in some way whether it be my desired way or not) in the coming months.

Keep an eye out for the Bands Night in April some time. Water II.

Laura
x

Update on proceedings...

Okay I seriously don't think anyone looks at this but it keeps me amused and it feels like productive dodging of my project!

Bands night was a fabulous success, we raised £440 in total and listened to a lot of fantastic music. The atmosphere was really lovely and I just want to thank everyone who came along and made it such a nice night.

Also there was a Global Water Crisi Workshop last week run by Professor Alan Ervine and Jim Rae. This was a very informative evening and some excellent ideas were brought forward and awareness was raised.

Another bonus was the reciept of a cheque for £500 for the Water Project so things are going well.

Thank you all for the continued support.

The mystery band revealed

I have no idea if anyone ever looks at this or if I am just writing this for a bit of a laugh.. anyway I will be emailing everyone about the bands night again so that they don't forget! And there will now be 6 acts for £4 (that's less than 67p each by the way!) with the addition to the line up being the "sonic experiment" going under the name of the buckie rage!

This event is not to be missed by anyone who's anyone (or who want's to stay being my friend)...

Personally I'm excited because I am having my last exam in less than 2 hours so I am going to party from now until the 25th (one week tomorrow) and beyond...

WATER

water
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

The final details of the bands night which will be a great post exams night out. There is the possibility of a mystery band so keep an eye out for further announcements!!

kidsonbeach

kidsonbeach
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

i just found this photo and i wanted to put it up because it is my favourite one. Anyway - come to the bands night!

WATER - A charity music evening (gig)

Where? O' Neils, Sauchiehall Street

When? Anytime after 7, Wed 25th January 06

Why? Cause there's great music, lot's of fun and all the money is for Cape Maclear (see below for details and some pics)

How? Get you tickets on the door or from me (Laura) if you know me or email me.

More details may follow soon...

i have myspace with some esp tunes!

Check me out!

A young girl carrying a pale of water

A young girl carrying a pale of water
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

You tended to find that it was always the women who carried the water.

The Lake

The Lake
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

Here is the beautiful Lake Malawi. At the forefront is a dugout canoe used regularly by fisherman of the village

The Sunset

The Sunset
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

Beautiful every night...

Houses in the village

Houses in the village
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

The Clinic(green) and Vulnerable Children and Orphan Day Care Centre(blue)

The Clinic(green) and Vulnerable Children and Orphan Day Care Centre(blue)
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

The school

The school
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

This is Cape Maclear Primary School, on hte bottom right here is the toilet block (pit latrines), this is a fairly recent addition to the school.

Bore Hole

Bore Hole
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

Here is Steve using the bore hole to collect water

Agnes and co

2005_0903plane0072
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

This little girl in the pink was Agnes, she was my neighbour and friend.

Malawi Kids

2005_0903plane0073
Originally uploaded by Laura Malawi.

Here are some of the kids playing the parachute game kindly donated by Trish (Matt's mum) and her nursery school in Galston. I think things had gone a little to carnage at this point.

Water Situation of Cape Maclear

Cape Maclear Clean Drinking Water Project
Malawi 2005
Chembe Village
Laura Nicolson
29th June – 5th September

During the months of July and August this year I lived in Chembe Village, Cape Maclear, working on a number of different projects. One of these projects was the Chembe Village Clean Drinking Water Project. Although there was no physical work for me to do on this project I focussed on gathering information to aid the project. This report is a brief summary of the situation Cape Maclear with regards to the water usage.

Firstly I will outline the setup for water in Cape Maclear. Being situated on the lake, the villagers use the water from the shore for everything from washing and cleaning to cooking and drinking. This water is not clean, this is obvious from its appearance and at the time I was visiting there were many snails close to the shore. These snails carry Bilharzia, which is endemic in Cape Maclear. Also people live a lot of their lives on the shore of the lake, cleaning pots and pans, washing clothes, washing children and, although many would protest this fact, using the lake for 'sanitation'. During the rainy season all the dirt from the village will be washed into the lake.

However this is not the only water source in the village, 9 bore holes are located within the span of the village. A sketch of these locations is attached with the paper copy of this report. While I was in Malawi only 8 of these bore holes were operational with the other having been in disrepair for sometime (this was located in the Dwali, far right facing the lake (east?), side of the village). This, I was told, was due to the fact that all the villagers were responsible for the upkeep and no one had the money to repair it. One person had responsibility to oversee the upkeep of each particular bore hole but I never managed to meet any of these people while staying in the village. I have also included some pictures of these bore holes for your information. According to the markings some of them were provided by SCF (UK) in 1998, I believe this to be Save the Children Fund. The rest are unmarked but villagers told me that the government provided them.

Bottled water can also be purchased from various lodges, a couple of shops (in the Malawian sense of the word) and from locals around the village. This water is expensive even by western standards and it is a luxury local Malawians cannot afford. The water sold by locals was chilled water from the bore holes, and you have to be careful in the shop that your bottle is sealed. If not the chances are this is also bore hole water. While I was in Cape Maclear there was a row of craft shops being established at the new lodge (Cape Mac Lodge, beside Fat Monkeys). There was an ice machine at the end of this row. I am unsure of the purpose of the ice machine or the water source they were freezing but I occasionally saw people there giving children little blocks of ice. Obviously this was much to the amusement of the Cape Maclear kids, many had never felt ice before.

The recently opened Billy Riordran Clinic had a water supply. This I believe was a bore hole they had provided themselves but I am not one hundred per cent sure about this. This clinic has been running for a little over one year and provides access to medical care and medication to the 14,000 people of Cape Maclear. This clinic does however cost K50 (around 20p literally) for each consultation, a cost not all villagers can afford. I think the clinic had plans to distribute Bilharzia tablets to all villagers although I am unsure at what stage these plans are presently. Levi Kahunda (Co-ordinator of Vulnerable Children and Orphan Day Care Centre) said the clinic used to provide them with a supply of water for the children but that this had recently stopped. The day care centre has two storage buckets with taps (I think they are Oxfam devices). This is a difficult area as the project run by Levi was under evaluation by its American donors and did not appear to be fairing well. The purpose of the The Pendulum Project (the donors) was to provide money but that everything in Malawi should be Malawian run and the centre was to be a feeding centre for the children of Cape Maclear. There was no food while we were in Cape Maclear as all the money had been spent on renovating the building. However this is a separate issue and I digress.

I talked with everyone I met about their water usage and requirements for water. The next part of my report will outline some views and opinions I experienced, including my own. The well-educated villagers told me how they boiled their water, never drank the water from the lake etc (basically what they thought I wanted to hear). However, I spent a considerable amount of time with people and never experienced this first hand. In my experience the women would go the bore hole to collect water first thing in the morning, about 4 or 5 am. This water would subsequently be used for cooking and drinking. I never witnessed people drinking water a lot; they thought it was quite hilarious that we carried big bottles of water round with us. Many children asked me why Mzungus (white people) drank so much water. One improvement I think is education in the school about the importance of drinking water for health. Even though the women did collect a lot of water from the bore holes it wasn’t always convenient for them through the day. Various factors including the heat, the distance to the bore hole, waiting for water, the amount of energy required to pump the water and of course the ease at which water can be collected from the lake meant the bore holes perhaps weren’t used fully. This I felt was particularly the case for those living at the shore. Given the village spans less than a mile inland, this is a large percentage of people.

I am unsure myself but people were very confident that the water from the bore holes was perfectly clean and ready to drink. I didn’t drink it all the time as we boiled water from the taps at Gecko (Paul’s house) but out of curiosity I tried the bore hole water. It is impossible to tell the quality from consumption but one thing that was noticeable was the metallic after taste. Testing these sources will be great.

As in many developing countries religion bares a greater meaning to the villagers of Cape Maclear, the CCAP Christian church is the biggest but there are a number of others. A comment that sticks out in my mind was that some people believe that God has provided them with the lake full of water and they believe God loves them so why would the water from Him be unclean. I am hopeful this belief is held by a minority of people and would not affect peoples usage of proposed drinking water stands.

As for location of the tap stands I believe the priority would be the Primary School. I worked as a teacher in the school for most of my time in Cape Maclear and we also helped to do some renovation work to a couple of classrooms. There is no facility for water at the school at all. Bore holes are located quite close but no one fetches drinking water through the school day. The school has over 1000 registered pupils so I believe water here would be of great benefit to the community. There is also a secondary school at the other side of the village but I am unsure how many pupils go there.

If you have any further questions at all about my time in Cape Maclear please contact me at 0107915n@student.gla.ac.uk. Thank you for taking the time to read my report.

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Sorry I never posted while away but access was limited (in fact there was none) I promise to post a massive story soon...

We are going to Malawi!

The total has been raised, the flights have been paid, insurance bought, three more jags tomorrow morning and I'm all set! I can't believe it, oh and the small issue of 5 exams in the next few weeks I should think about passing. Many thanks to everyone who has helped me over the past few months with everything. Another fundraiser tonight in the Art School, reggae soul funk and hip hop!