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The O akville Beaver, F rid a y M a rc h 17, 2 0 0 6 - 3 Water for Humanity project makes a world of a difference By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF David Angas had an "exhilaratingly exhausting" time recently in South Africa and no wonder: his payoff for travelling thousands of miles by air and overland was help ing to bring a permanent supply of clean drinking water to the village of Tzaneen. Angas stresses he in no way did this alone and as spokesperson for the four Rotary Clubs in Oakville that participated in the ZENON. Environmental Inc. Water For Humanity project, he remains blown away by the astounding, widespread co-operation that pulled it off. "It makes me feel incredible," he says of the untold benefits locals will reap, some of which may not yet be foreseen. Water For Humanity is ZENON's volunteer-driven initia tive founded by the company's employees in 1999 as a way of showing their commitment to sup port the world's need for clean, safe water in regions that cannot supply water for themselves. Last year, Oakville' s four Rotary Clubs joined forces with ZENON to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Rotary International by planning to install the drinking water system. The project had actually been in the works since a joint meeting in April 2003 between The Rotary Clubs of Oakville, OakvilleTrafalgar, Oakville-North and Oakville-West. Rotary and ZENON then worked closely to develop what has turned out to be a won derful experience for .everyone involved. "It was three years in the mak ing," said Angas, who added that what was originally a "crazy idea" ultimately revealed the true "power of partnerships." Angas was part of the threemember team that early last year inspected a short list of five candi D O W N A N D D I R T Y : W ater for Humanity volunteers M arie Heintzman, Gwenn van Schalkwyk and David Angas dig a trench for the w ater pipeline. date sites in Ghana and South Africa. With him were two repre sentatives from ZENON, Services Vice President Jim Imrie and General Manager of Design Build and Mobile Systems R. Philip Canning. Factored into the decision to choose Tzaneen - a municipality in the province of Limpopo, located in the northeastern part of South Africa - were things like access to a reliable water source, the presence of chemical agents in the water, salinity and the likelihood of long term sustainability. Integral to this is the commit ment of those on ground in Tzaneen to see the project through in the long-term, namely local gov ernment, South African Rotarians (who built the necessary pipelines to outlying villages) and the endusers of the water. ZENON, together with support from its suppliers, covered all the "It tasted better than the best champagne I ever had in my life." Oakville Rotation David Angus on drinking the first cup o f water from the newly-installed ZENON water system C a r r ie r y*ti1 oo C a ll Y o u r L O C A L f g g g g ^ D e a le r costs associated with the design, engineering, construction and installation of the water filtration system. Rotary, thanks to its many committed members i n , place in Tzaneen, handled the necessary infrastructure such as the- water delivery system plus local educa tion measures to help ensure sus tainability. : After 18 months of planning and construction, the system was shipped in November and arrived around Christmas. It went on-line in February. This plant -- by itself valued at around $300,000 -- will treat 140,000 gallons of water per day and add immeasurably to the lives of thousands. The time spent haul ing water several miles every single day can now be used by children to attend school and by women for other pursuits, like starting micro enterprises. "It will change lives. The ripple effect of this is huge," said Angas, whose eyes were opened to the true potential precipitated bylhe plant. "It's incredibly satisfying what it means to them just by delivering water." Angas was joined on the trip by three other local-RotarianS - Ralph Soeder, Mary Cardamone and Marie Heintzman, an audiologist who worked at a local school for the deaf and left valuable equip ment there. The four Rotarians also visited nine other schools in the area where they spoke about topics like hygiene and water conservation essential components to the sus tainability of the project. They also left behind playground equipment like soccer balls. The Rotarians were joined by Imrie and three ZENON engineers selected by lottery to travel to Africa and have a hand in the plant's completion. They were far from alone, explained Angas, since the project received wholesale sup port from villagers to local politi cians. The pipeline was even donat ed by a supplied in China, while labour was cheerfully given by those who would directly benefit from the plant. "They weren't looking for a handout," said Angas. When the first clean water -- drawn originally from the brown anti murky Letaba River -- was ready to flow, it was a time for a "huge celebration," said Angas, who was honoured to drink the first mouthful from a simple plas tic cup he now treasures. "It tasted better than the best champagne I ever had in my life,"he said. Angas went on to say that Oakville should also feel proud, since the $50,000 committed to Tzaneen by the town's four Rotary Clubs was eventually leveraged into the $750,000 total cost of the project. This works out to a mere $1.87 per person - one heck of an investment in people's lives, said Angas. South Africa was such a positive experience, he continued, that the Rotary Clubs and ZENON would love to work together again. Tzaneen set a high benchmark for future projects and so much was learned in providing the water plant that it would be a waste of such knowledge not to continue. "This is why I'm a Rotarian," said Angas, pleased he was part of "exporting the privilege" of other countries to those in need. O a k v ille H o m e C o m fo rt P u ron A ior OAKVILLE TOWN CENTRE I 300 North Service Rd. W. at Dorval i Turn to the Experts. N o rth S e rv ice R oad OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK ·SEE STORE FOR DETAILS O ak Town C e n tre 1 !