“Do you want to go to Africa or get married?”
And, with that Bob and Helen Nation embarked on a life plan that continued from the day they graduated university to today as a retired couple living in Duncan, British Columbia. They did get married, and Africa became as much their home as Canada.
Helen hails from Winnipeg, where she met Bob whose father was in the armed forces. Consequently, moved around a lot, but Kingston, Ontario was considered home by him. Still students, at that time, each knew they wanted to devote their life to aiding those in Africa. Later, they met again in Ontario, and it was then they put their shared goals into action by applying with CUSO for work in Africa.
Considering themselves lucky, they headed off on a two-year posting (1968–1970) in Tanzania, where Helen worked as a librarian and Bob in computer science. Life there was fairly regulated for them and they spent their time in an urban environment, not visiting the countryside often but always maintaining a keen interest in developing countries.
After another CUSO posting in Nigeria for five years, Bob and Helen decided, “to follow the hippie trail, and that experience changed our lives,” says Helen. “It made us see that we didn’t ever want to settle down to a normal existence,” adds Bob. Eventually, they were required to return to Winnipeg to assist their elderly parents, and go to work there.
Growing more and more restless, Bob and Helen were relieved when a friend offered Bob work in Qatar on the Arabian Gulf for nine years. They jumped at the chance and, while there, Helen taught ESL. This sojourn overseas led to their retirement in 1996 and another return to Winnipeg to attend to family obligations.
Eventually, a move to BC provided Bob and Helen with a warmer place to live and consider what was next for them. They were still very interested in the greater world and strong in their passion to assist in any way they could in Africa. Through good fortune, contact came from a British professor they had known in Nigeria with a suggestion they join her in Tanzania to help with her work there. Of course, they would. Bob and Helen spent two months in the Village of Kikombwe, and it was there that their life’s work burst into bloom.
“We met the people of the village, got to know the locals and made friends with them,” says Helen. Becoming part of the fabric of the village, speaking the language of the tribe, “we were immersed into village life, and energized by it,” says Bob.
The Village of Kikombwe is set on a partly treed southern savannah in south-central Tanzania, it has about 4,000 inhabitants spread over five to eight kilometres. The staple crops are maize and beans; there is no central electricity supply, but it does have cellphone service. The largest commercial centre and regional capital is the City of Iringa, which is 45km away.
While there, it became clear to Bob and Helen that the village desperately needed a source of clean, safe water. The villagers collected water during the rainy season, but the rest of the time relied on the muddy streams that irrigated the land. So, it was back to Vancouver Island to consider how to tackle this and make a plan to provide drinking water to Kikombwe.
Bob and Helen put together a presentation and spoke with local groups such as Elder College, church congregations and did their best to get the needs of Kikombwe out to others. It was at one church gathering, where the quality of life of the villagers was noted, that someone asked: “What can we do for these people?” That triggered the Nations to announce they would go back and deal with the water situation. They sent this information out in their Christmas cards and told everyone to spread the word. Donations from $10-$1000 came in and, along with their own money, Bob and Helen finally had enough to go back and fulfill their dreams – and those of Kikombwe.
But that wasn’t all. Bob and Helen thoroughly researched the topic with professionals and others involved in clean-water projects. They learned a great deal because “we didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew,” says Bob. “We started fundraising with the thought that with $20,000 we could do something. But whatever we did, we wanted it to be right. We were not as naive as many other people who have tackled similar projects.”
They brushed up on their Swahili and continued their research in Dar Es Salaam, connected with other proven organizations, perused all the local government reports and water acts, working all the time within the government structure and obtaining all required authorizations and going through the required channels. The key, they learned, was to have a good engineer. And, as luck would have it, they found one simply by overhearing a conversation between water experts, and from there one thing led to another.
Their proposal to sink four wells was put to the Kikombwe Village Council and the villagers, and it was met with positive but reserved encouragement – these villagers had had promises before. The Nations proved indefatigable; they set out their plan and stuck with it. It took 15 months from idea to running water, and 18 months, in all, from idea to four wells. When Bob and Helen left Kikombwe, there was a water committee in place to maintain, sustain and oversee the operations and finances of the wells and water supply.
And, with that, the Nations headed back to Duncan, but they knew they’d be returning to Kikombwe. “We’ll go back in two years, if it is all okay, and we’ll fund ourselves, the same as before, but this time we have pictures and successes to build on,” said Bob. Well, they did go back, and things were and still are going well on the water front.
Over the years, contacts expanded, knowledge grew and friendships were cemented. When they did go back, it was to the neighbouring village of Malagosi. Here, the situation was a little different as there was a source of fresh water that, if engineered correctly, could gravity feed a system to bring water down to the village. Bob and Helen poured all their energies into getting water to Malagosi.
A small dam collects pure water in settling tanks from a proven spring on a plateau above the village. Large diameter HDPE piping carries the water three kilometres downhill to a 50 cubic metre storage tank. Trenches for the piping are then dug, the piping laid, and the water flow is hooked up to 10 tap outlets throughout the village. To get this done, the project was broken down into three phases with the first being fundraising: “fundraising is a total mystery to me,” admits Helen, “I can’t project who will give. But people rarely challenged us; we are well intentioned and would not spoil things or waste their money.”
The second phase was the purchase of the pipe and the digging of the trenches. Everyone worked together to do this, villagers enthusiastically participated in the digging – women with babies slung on their backs, men and children – a colourful line of people up to their ankles in mud, and faces wreathed in smiles.
Right now, Phase Three is underway with the laying of pipe to extend the network, and much of the work can be monitored from Canada by the engineer, who has, in turn, became enamored with the project and is enthusiastically seeking further funding, and spreading the word.
When asked about health issues and adapting to life in an African village, Bob and Helen look surprised. There were no issues for them; they simply blended in with life in the village. If a delivery of seedlings was delivered and extra help was required to unload the truck, they’d pitch in. Bob went to the local medical man for a problem and got a simple diagnosis and a solution, which turned out to be completely accurate. Helen became the village seamstress. If they wanted to get anywhere, they took the bus. They lived modestly in the same style of dwelling as the others and ate the same meals, albeit with an extra potato or two to spice up the menu.
Bob and Helen plan to go back to Malagosi in 2016. “As long as we have health and wealth, we’ll go back,” they vow. In the meantime, they have chosen to leave their house rented out while they snuggle down in the little cottage at the back, save their money, and hope that the fundraising – now thankfully handled by Juma’s World, which provides tax receipts and website coverage – allows them to see even more taps installed in Malagosi.
What is needed to live this life of planned giving? According to Bob and Helen Nation, it is: adaptability, patience and optimism plus a joy in meeting new people. “I am totally amazed at how happy all this makes us, I can’t explain it, but there it is,” says Helen.
For more information or to contribute to water projects, visit www.Jumasworld.org/african-projects/malagosi.html or www.cusointernational.org/ Bob and Helen can be contacted at bhnation2012@gmail.com
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