World Water Day and Well Done

This Sunday, March 22nd, marks World Water Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness on the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in many developing regions throughout the world. Across the globe, individuals, organizations, businesses, and city governments will join together in commemorating and supporting the effort to bring clean water to the billion people living throughout the world without access to this critical resource.

Here at BRUTE LABS and Well Done, we too are soberly reminded of the ever-pressing need for clean water throughout the world, yet deeply inspired by the gathering of countless individuals and organizations, all unified towards the same end of tackling this crisis. As a Well Done partner, there are several ways you can also meaningfully and practically take part in World Water Day:

• Take part in a local World Water Day event (visit http://worldwaterday.net to find out more)
• Donate to our ongoing efforts. We are currently raising funds to see through the implementation of five clean water projects throughout rural Ghana and need your help in getting there. We're in the heart of drilling season in Ghana, and we need your support to make these projects a reality within the next couple of months! Visit www.brutelabs.org/welldone to find out more and make a donation.
• Share word of project Well Done and the larger global water crisis with your friends and family. You can simply do this by forwarding this message to your own networks or inviting your friends to our facebook cause.

In whatever shape or form, we hope you join us on this important day as we unite with the global community in drawing attention to the critical lack of safe drinking water worldwide.

Regards,
The Well Done Team

Well Done - Ghana Trip Report

As many of you know, this past summer we had the privilege of traveling to Ghana to commission two wells for Project Well Done, a clean water effort initiated by BRUTE LABS in early 2007. Click on the image below to download our trip report and find out more about our incredible experiences.



www.brutelabs.org/welldone

Well Done - First well equipped! Second well drilled!

Good news from Ghana... We've received word that the first well in Nso Nyame ye recently had its pump installed and concrete foundation poured. In short time, the well should be online and serving the village with a clean drinking water supply. A committee of local villagers has been formed to provide oversight of the operations and maintenance of the well once it is online, which we've learned is essential for the long-term sustainbility of the well. We've also received word that the second well in Bebianiha has been drilled, with equipping (pump installation, etc.) soon to occur.

As mentioned in previous entries, a group of us (Joshua To, Ardy Ghanbar, Hoon Yoo, and Jim Yoon) will be traveling to Ghana. Our departure date is in a little less than two weeks. We'll be there to visit the well sites and explore opportunities for future work in other villages throughout Ghana, both as they relate to clean water and other development projects in general. Ghana, here we come!

Well Done - Drilling!

Good news folks... Drilling for the well has been completed! The team out in Ghana had to battle against rain and bad weather, but they were able to successfully transport the rig to the site and get the hole drilled. Groundwater samples have been delivered to a water quality lab and are now being tested to confirm the safety of the supply... Once this is done, all that's left is to install the pump and some above ground appurtenances before we have a functional well and a clean water supply for the village! Check out the main site for some pictures (www.brutelabs.org/welldone).

Well Done Website Up and Running!

Website is up and running and I have the pleasure of posting this Well Done blog entry, hopefully the first of many more to come. To bring everyone up to speed, this project to drill a well in Ghana was first envisioned towards the beginning of this year. Actually, at that point we really didn't even know where we'd be working, but in the entrepreneurial (and perhaps somewhat naïve) spirit we've come to embrace, we proudly admitted our cluelessness but set out to implement a well project somewhere that needed it anyways. Out of a longstanding relationship and previous travels to the country of Ghana, we were able to develop a partnership with Pioneers-Ghana, a local organization with experience in overseeing this type of project in the country. We felt then, and continue to feel now, that working with a local organization with an indigenous presence in the country is essential in the successful implementation of this project. We are extremely thankful and humbled to be working with such a fine group of trustworthy individuals, several of whom we've had the privilege of getting to know over the past couple of years.

Since then, things have been moving along steadily on both sides of the Atlantic. We in the States have been working at garnering both the logistical and financial means to support this project, while our partners in Africa have been actively scoping out potential villages and meeting with local hydrogeologists and contractors. Currently, there are a couple of potential sites for the project. The most recently considered is a small village called Osuenyame, located in the Central Regiona of Ghana, with a population of approximately 50 adults and 100 children.

Recent flooding in Ghana has ironically made the drinking water situation in many of these villages worse than ever, so we are eager to see site selection finalized and actual construction underway. That being said, the months from February-April are considered the best time to drill in the country. The plan from here then is to focus on identifying a site over the coming months, and hopefully move into the construction phase in the early part of 2008. As we evaluate sites, we'll continue to bring you updates and photos from the field. Stay tuned.

Regards,
Jim Yoon