Project Report
| Oct 7, 2011
The AIDFI Ram Pump: Game-Changer-For-Good
By Dexter Gauntlett | Former Reuss Fellow, Philippines
![Submitted by in-country partner AIDFI]()
Submitted by in-country partner AIDFI
This is an exciting time for AIDFI and Green Empowerment in the Philippines. We don’t use ‘game changing technology’ unless we really mean it-- but that’s exactly what the ram pump is! And now, AIDFI’s hard work over 15 years and 180+ installations serving 50,000+ in 10 countries is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Your donations are simultaneously improving the health of some of the most remote communities in the world, while increasing awareness of the ram pump. If you have already donated to this project, please tell your friends. If you haven’t yet donated to this project, look no further.
Recent developments include:
- 8 feasibility studies for new ram pump installations on the island of Leyte have been completed (opportunity to provide improved access to potable water to an additional 3,000 people).
- AIDFI wins the Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered the Nobel Prize of Asia. Watch AIDFI Director Auke Idzenga’s acceptance speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMktFbesJnc
- AIDFI completes a ram pump technology transfer to Aprotec Colombia, including a 3 week training of two Aprotec engineers at AIDFI Technopark in the Philippines, and a ram pump installation in Colombia.
- AIDFI has established 3 regional installation teams within the Philippines
- Green Empowerment and AIDFI have forged a new partnership with Negros Forests and Ecological Foundation to identify ways to integrate access to potable water via ram pumps, forest conservation, and biodiversity protection in 3 highly threatened forest regions of Negros Island, Philippines. Negros Island only has 4% of forest cover remaining. It is also home to one of the highest concentrations of endemic species, many of which are critically endangered including the Visayan Warthog, Visayan Hornbill, and Visayan Spotted Dear.
- If you’re a donor or prospective donor that lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, join us at Luminalt on October 14, 2011 for a Green Empowerment presentation on the ram pump and activities in the Philippines: http://www.greenempowerment.org/blog/?p=1809.
Individual donations of any amount play a critical role since ram pumps are one of the lowest-cost renewable energy technologies for improving access to potable water. Your donation goes a VERY LONG way. literally. In Sitio Anangue (a village near Northern Negros National Park), ram pumps deliver water to a village of 400 people, with some villagers located more than 3km away, at an elevation 60+ meters higher than the source. With no fuel input and only 2 moving parts, the AIDFI ram pump is a game-changer-for-good.
Links:
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Jul 7, 2011
Exciting News from Our Reuss Fellow in the Philippines
By Dexter Gauntlett | Reuss Fellow
Dear friends, colleagues and supporters,
It's been 6 months since I left with my family to work in the Philippines with Green Empowerment to scale up our renewable energy and water projects in rural villages. We are now in the final round of evaluations for a $1.5 million proposal that would provide 22,000 people in 50 villages access to clean drinking water-- using an ingenious ram pump technology that requires no fuel input! But the main donor - the US Agency for International Development (USAID) requires a private sector donor to cover part of the material costs.
Will you please approach your company to help sponsor a water tank? We need 1 - 50 water tanks at only $660 each.
In villages, it is the responsibility of women and children to fetch water 2-3 times a day, walking up to a kilometer or more carrying 40lb buckets. This prevents them from going to school and is literally-- back breaking work. Our program will install ram pumps, storage tanks, and provide a communal tap. Our in-country NGO partner is the BBC World Challenge winner AIDFI, who has installed 170 ram pumps throughout the Philippines and other countries.
I need to submit the final proposal by July 15.
Here is an overview of the different sponsorship amounts:
- 1 complete installed ram pump system to bring portable water to a village of 300 people = $13,000
- 1 ferrocement water tank (10,000 liters) so women and children do not have to carry water from a far away well = $660
The proposal targets 50 ram pump installations total over the next 3 years.
I'd be happy to speak with others at your company if they are interested and need more information, Dexter.Gauntlett@greenempowerment.org. Please help us make this exciting program a reality.
Dexter Gauntlett
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Mar 18, 2011
New Ram Pump Community Identified!
By Daniel Wasil | Director of Development
An indirect result of winning the BBC Challenge is that new prospects for community ram pumps have emerged. In the next 90 days, one such community which has been identified by AIDFI, will undergo greater assistance and preparations for planning, siting, community development and ownership, and “sweat equity” needs will be set into motion.
A preliminary estimate of $2,500 has been given for this emerging community, with greater details to follow in the next two weeks. While not as urgent, the Japanese situation has caused some disruptions in communication and some anxiety in certain communities.
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
