Silver Spring church backs clean-water project in Cameroon

With a growing number of members of Colesville Presbyterian Church from Cameroon, Becky Clapp searched the Internet for a development project in that African nation that the northern Silver Spring church could support.

One of the first sites she found was Engineers Without Borders, a 15-year-old humanitarian organization that has developed almost 700 projects in 45 countries. The church partnered with the group’s Washington, D.C., regional chapter in 2013 and has donated about $15,000 so far, along with other means of support.

“I’ve been inspired by the work this organization has done,” said Clapp, who heads the church’s Water of Life Committee, which oversees the partnership. “It’s a very talented and dedicated group.”

About one-fourth of the people in Cameroon do not have access to clean drinking water and less than half use improved sanitation facilities, said Jonathan Mead, an environmental geologist and president of Engineers Without Borders’ local chapter.

Mead was one of several EWB members who visited with church members Sunday and explained what had been done so far on a project to provide the remote Mbokop settlement of Mangi with a spring box and gravity-fed distribution system to improve its water quality.

Just getting to Mangi can be challenging, with a 24-hour plane ride from the D.C. area and a two-day vehicle ride over bumpy roads. The EWB D.C. chapter started planning the project in 2012, and members made several trips to assess conditions, test systems and perform other functions in 2013 and 2014. They started implementing the water system in January.

EWB members generally visit for two weeks at a time, with most using vacation days from work.

A big challenge is to develop projects that last a long time, Mead said. The group teaches local people how to use and maintain the system, and uses local materials so they can be easily replaced by residents, he said.

“We put a lot of thought into these projects,” said Mead, a Hyattsville resident.

Ashley Reives, a systems engineer who lives in Washington, D.C., returned in late January from an implementation trip to Cameroon.

“There was a great response from the community,” Reives said. “People were carrying equipment, digging ditches, cooking for us. They really wanted to learn about the system.”

Besides implementing the system, there is an educational component, said Rahul Mitra, a seasoned international development program manager and D.C. resident. For instance, cows and other animals were using and contaminating the village’s human drinking water. EWB members recommended they keep animals away from water meant for people, he said.

The Mangi clean-water project’s budget is about $64,000, said Rachel Rath, a program associate with Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in Washington, D.C. EWB, whose members are from a wide range of fields, not just engineering, will do other projects in Cameroon, she said.

“We are looking at being there for a decade or so,” said Rath, who has a master’s degree in public health.

Colesville Presbyterian has a goal of raising $50,000 for EWB by the end of the year, with some funds going to the next phase after the Mangi project, Clapp said.

“We are looking at this as a long-term partnership,” she said. “We are disbursing funds to them as they need them, and as we see them successfully implementing their solutions.”

Church members also are contacting corporate sponsors and others to obtain more funding. They have helped draft the engineering design and a safety manual for the Mangi project and provide a pipeline construction trainer.

On Sunday, EWB members praised members of the Silver Spring church for their widespread support. Cameroon members sung songs of praise for them.

The project “creates a powerful experience for everyone involved,” said Mead, who is leaving Saturday on a system implementation trip to Cameroon.

“It has definitely changed my life,” he said.