One brick at a time

In this report, we're sharing what’s happening in One Brick at a Time as we continue implementation of the related projects and planning for the future. This particular report is focusing on the water needs in Bergnek, and future reports will give you more information about the General Store, and the Community Clinic, that are both in the planning stages although we've made some good progress nonetheless.

New 3rd-Party Survey and Needs-Analysis

In our latest survey conducted by Universal Alliance Partners, we wanted to confirm we are meeting the needs of the community and to check in to uncover and understand changes in priorities within the community. The good news from the report in general was that priorities haven't changed and there is a commitment to ongoing projects and planning for the future, even though there has been a 29.97% increase in the population over the past 6 years.

The Water Project

The water project has taken a large portion of current resources to get to the end of the second phase at a cost of around US$150,000. However, the water supply in the community has been increased to serve the increased population and we clearly need to plan ahead to meet future demand. Part of that planning is the acquisition of an adjacent plot of land to the community. 

You may be wondering why we're talking about land acquisition when we are working on water access. In South Africa, you may not move water across land parcels unless that movement of water is a natural occurrence, such as a river or stream. The land adjacent to Bergnek, contains wells with significant volumes of water on the side of the property furthest away from the community and if we acquire the land we have access to the water and the land will become part of the Bergnek land parcel and we can distribute the water anywhere within the boundaries of the bigger parcel.

Next Steps

We have already made progress and have agreement in principle with the current land owner to purchase the land from them over 3-years starting in January 2018 and an agreement will be formalized shortly. The importance of this additional land cannot be understated, it is what is needed to be able to properly supply water to the community on an on-demand basis as well being able to support the establishment of the brick-making business, you’ve heard us talk about previously.

As you can imagine, everything we are doing to develop community supported and sustainable economic activities is connected. More to come in our next reports on each of the General Store, the Community Clinic, and the other community-based initiatives related to these.

Help us, help the community of Bergnek to help themselves. Please pass this report on to Family, Friends and other acquaintances and consider making a recurring donation to the project.

In Gratitude.