Water Drilling in Cameroon
Inhouse – Blog Nr. 1
Stefan Jakob,
Head of Sales &
Business Development
Access to water is a human right.
Everyone has a right to clean water and sanitation: This was declared by the United Nations General Assembly on July 28, 2010. But the reality is sobering: Some ten years later, 785 million people in the world still have no access to clean drinking water. We at BSgroup Data Analytics see ourselves as part of society and want to make a contribution to society in addition to our economic contribution.
So we asked ourselves the question:
How can we do our part to improve the situation?
We are committed – for our employees and beyond
Social engagement and donations are tricky business. From the beginning we knew clearly what we didn’t want: Doing good as a kind of «alibi exercise» that serves little more than the purpose of marketing on social channels. We really want to make a difference. Just donating money to an aid organization seemed too superficial and intransparent to us. We wanted to make a measurable contribution that would make a difference. With the involvement and implementation of our own team members, we want to achieve a win-win-win situation: satisfied employees who can get involved in social projects and make a measurable contribution to providing clean drinking water where it is urgently needed as well as to support the respective local economy of the project to be implemented.
Social commitment that is lived – in the truest sense of the word
«People should enjoy working for our company and want to get involved»: In accordance with this motto, each of our employees was allowed to submit a proposal for a social project – on the condition that the selected project was initiated, coordinated and implemented as the person responsible for the project. What came next overwhelmed us: Since we are a colorful bunch of consultants from all over the world, we received incredibly exciting project proposals. Each employee made a proposal for their country of origin. In the first round we received project proposals for three different countries – we were so enthusiastic about them that we decided on all three. The first is already being implemented – do you have any idea where?
Our first own project: Water Drilling in Cameroon with Johnson Fapong
Johnson Fapong is a senior consultant and has been our specialist in data analytics & business intelligence for over four years. Since Johnson grew up in Cameroon and his family still lives there, it was clear for him to realize a project with his roots. Most of the villages have a major problem with the lack of reliable, sufficient and clean water sources for human consumption and other uses. The pressure on the water resources in the villages is very high. The number of water sources does not coincide with the number of inhabitants, which is constantly increasing. We wanted to get a ball rolling and at least eliminate this problem for the residents of Johnson’s home village and provide access to fresh drinking water.
To this end, we have set ourselves the following project goals:
- A reduction in the time women spend fetching water on long walks from 30 to 50 minutes to five to 15 minutes.
- A 60 percent reduction in the infection rate of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, blood diarrhea and typhoid.
- Ensuring that people get clean, reliable, and adequate water all year round – 100 percent.
The implementation of the project was divided into four phases with the intensive help of the village administration in Cameroon. At the beginning of the project, a tender for the water drilling was issued to various companies. This activity was carried out by the organization and the village administration. The contractor was then selected from among the bidders who applied for the tender. Immediately afterwards, the areas in which the water boreholes were to be carried out were measured. This activity was carried out by the contractor in cooperation with the village administration. This activity was carried out by the organization and the village administration. The contractor was then selected from among the bidders who applied for the tender. Finally, the project was handed over to the village administration.
There is drilling! – Project time planning and status today
At the moment I write this article, Johnson Fapong is in Cameroon to help with the drilling and to support the project on site. We are currently on schedule (see timeline). However, the nature of the soil is currently putting a few obstacles in our way in the truest sense of the word.
As planned in advance, two groundwater levels were discovered at a drilling depth of 78 meters. But the ground was loamy and very unstable – there were repeated small landslides. The construction company decided to dig a second well. But there were landslides again. Therefore, the construction work has been temporarily stopped today. A different drilling technique and, as a result, a new drilling machine will have to be used. The next drilling attempt will take place on November 22nd – we are confident!