Orpington College

COLLEGE SAVES LIVES

Orpington College have restored the lives of up to 500 African people, simply by drinking water.

The College have sponsored a well in the Manicaland Province of trouble torn Zimbabwe, by entering into a unique partnership with the charity Pump Aid, and Surrey based AquAid water coolers. The scheme simply means that for every four water coolers we have at the college, we earn the right to have a well installed in Zimbabwe with the inscription of our name on the well itself. Each well takes approximately 4 months to construct, and each village are given education as to how to maintain the well should anything go wrong.

The scheme was the brainchild of Ian Thorpe CEO of Pump Aid, who designed the Pump based on ancient Chinese technology. Mr Thorpe saw children dying in schools when he visited on a gap year. He set to work to solve the problem of the 1.2billion people who do not have fresh water and consequently die from many water borne diseases. So far over 2 million people have been assisted with support from people like Orpington College.

Liz Watson from the College said "We are delighted to be part of such a unique scheme. To think that we are saving lives in another part of the world is quite staggering. We love the partnership idea, and want to encourage our students to think about the wider aspects of helping other people also. Long may the relationship with AquAid and Pump Aid continue."
 

Linda McCarthy, Sales Manager at AquAid  said "We are privileged to be a part of this scheme. To improve the quality of life locally and globally is quite a tall order. However in this small way, we are able to make a difference. To think that lives can be this affected by water is staggering, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Orpington College for a long time to come".

Since the partnership began some four years ago, Pump Aid have been able to install enough wells to service over 2 million people, as a direct result of the unique relationship with AquAid and their clients.

The college have received a thank you letter from Peter Ganyire, a student from St Matthias School in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe, which we have proudly displayed in the college.

For further information on the scheme, please telephone 0208 464 9652.