Water to East Timor (WET) - Andrew Graham (RC of Warrnambool East)

In his presentation, Andrew (pictured below) showed over 150 photographs which clearly demonstrated the work they had done, the conditions they had worked under and the improvements made.  The work was supported by his own Rotary club as well as Rotary clubs in Darwin.

The main points of Andrews talk were:

• In the early days it was obvious to Andrew that kids were dying due to unsanitary water supplies.  They have now reversed this trend by providing running water;
• Water Project - Stage 1 was to replace the need for village folk, particularly children, in having to carry water up to 6 Kms to their village and having to rely on unsanitary water supplies.  They now reticulate the water and most of the open, bamboo channels, that were previously in service, have now been replaced by robust pipes;
• Water Project -Stage 2 involved teaching the villagers how to build dams to which they then installed pumps to lines feeding the villages with various take-off points.  However,  “piracy” of water at various points is still a problem;
• The Water Tank​ project involved installing water tanks with offtake valves to service villages.  The tanks were shipped from Warrnambool and assembled on-site with the assistance of villagers;
• The support in East Timor has now advanced to the point where the Rotary of Warrnambool East is helping refurbish a medical centre, a school, toilet blocks as well as on-going water projects;
• Andy emphasised the power of Rotary that can be harnessed.  Once, when he urgently needed funds to complete a water project in Lestefho, he received $10K USD, in cash, the next day with the help of a Rotary Club in Darwin;

Many of the pictures shown by Andrew showed the often difficult conditions that they had to work under with roadways in the early days being particularly primitive.  Laying foundations for concrete dams meant that all materials had to by carried by hand to elevated positions above the village. The locals always assisted this portering by acting as carriers.

At the conclusion of Andy’s talk he was presented with a cheque for over $9,400 by Port Fairy resident, Wendy Smyrk, from funds raised from the Open Gardens Day held in Port Fairy over the preceding weekend.  The Open Gardens event featured  9 gardens on display in Albert Road and proved to be a popular event for a very good cause.  The Rotary Club of Port Fairy then supplemented the funds presented by Wendy by presenting their own cheque to Andy to make the total contribution $10,000 which Andrew indicated would be used to provide four new water tanks.

In his visit to Port Fairy, Andrew was accompanied by three other members of his club, in Terry Baker (President), Roger Cussen and Ian Macdonald all of whom enjoyed good fellowship with Port Fairy members.

At the conclusion of his talk, Rotarian, Kevin Matthews, thanked Andrew for his very informative speech that clearly outlined the type of project that Rotarians can assist with in all corners of the globe.

Some images from Andrew's presentation are included below.