North Queensferry man Paul is helping to water Africa
4 August-
Paul Johnston
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Paul and colleagues on their sand dam
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Paul and friends
North Queensferry engineer Paul Johnston is spending an exciting but ethical gap-year working on bringing water to drought-stricken parts of Kenya.
Paul (23) has just finished a civil engineering degree and is now working at Quest Overseas's Water Relief Project in Kenya, working with the African Sand Dam Foundation.
He said: "This project is especially important during the ongoing drought and it is obvious how much the local communities appreciate the project and the benefit it will bring to them in the future.
“I had hoped that I would be able to gain an understanding of the difficulties rural Africans face on a daily basis, in this way I can empathise with them and hope that I will be able to work on further projects, which could provide basic needs."
Since 2005, teams of Quest volunteers on this project have financed and built 23 sand dams in the dry, rural Machakos and Makueni Districts, working with community volunteers and charity staff.
Sand dams are a simple, ecologically-friendly and successful piece of engineering that can provide a clean, safe, reliable water supply for thousands of people.
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