Mission

St Andrew’s supports a number of projects, including CIRDIC, the Christians in Reading Drop-In Centre.

 

Kwamkono Hospital and Hospice- and the Water Project

For over 25 years St. Andrew's has been supporting the work of St Francis’s Christian Hospital and the adjacent Polio Children’s Rehabilitation Hostel in Kwamkono, Tanzania, through the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG). The work there began as a medical outreach clinic run by Anglican missionaries in the 1920s and developed into the present 70-bed hospital serving a huge, mainly rural area. Outreach clinics and vaccination programmes are operated in the surrounding villages.

For water, they had a shallow well in the valley below. They also harvest rain water from as many roofs as possible, but this has to be filtered and boiled and their tanks often run dry in between the rainy seasons. When the hospital’s shallow well failed a few years ago, St Andrew’s PCC decided to raise money to have deep boreholes drilled in the valley to find a reliable source of clean water. Other churches joined St Andrew’s and once sufficient money had been raised, GIBB Africa, Consulting Engineers carried out a geological survey to select sites for the boreholes. The Drilling Agency of the Ministry of Water in Dar es Salaam was engaged and the drilling was successfully completed in 2001.

2009 - News on the water supply project for St Francis’ Hospital & the adjacent Polio Children’s Hostel

Having heard about their increasingly desperate water supply situation, St Andrew’s PCC asked Brian and Jan Blakeley to visit Tanzania once again in order to assess the situation at Kwamkono, with emphasis on three aspects:

Rainwater harvesting installations These were found to be either broken or non-existent; a local technician was engaged to make and install new guttering on the wards with downpipes into the existing underground tanks. This work was successfully completed in time for the rains.

Repair of broken handpump Four (failed) attempts were made to repair the pump on borehole 2; when funds allowed, a new pump would be considered.

Development of borehole 3 in the valley: Discussions with a reliable contractor, based in Tanga, resulted in his offering to take forward development of the considerable amount of water in it; news is awaited of the results of a survey of the site. This project will be done in several phases and St Andrew’s is grateful for financial help from several other individuals and churches who will be kept informed of progress.

May 2009

PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN KWAMKONO IN MAY 2009

Hospital Administrator and staff taking Brian Blakeley on inspection tour of broken or non-existant rainwater harvesting installations at St Francis.

Matron Zawadi (on left) at a ward storage tank and discussion on refurbishment of broken pipework with local artisan hired to do the work.

Another attempt to repair the broken handpump on borehole 2 in the valley.

Little polio girl just admitted to Hostel for rehabilitation of very deformed legs with Hostel Administrator, Sylvester (on right).