A million years ago, I served in the Peace Corps in Togo West Africa.

One of my fellow volunteers and I go back every year and drill one to two fresh water wells.

He is married to a Togolese - making sourcing, hiring, speaking to village chiefs - a whole lot easier.

He is a PhD hydrologist and I am an engineer.  (U of Wisconsin, Ecole Centrale - Paris and MIT).

Thanks to all those circumstances - we have had a remarkable success rate (every well drilled has produced water).

It is incredibly sad how many villages in Togo have NO access to clean water.

This adventure to date has been self-funded.

Just recently - the light went on.

I realized, that if I raised some money - we could drill 3 - 4 fresh water wells each year, maybe more.  (Duh)

So - I set up a gofundme page.

This pumps the water up into the water tower every day.

When the villagers need water - they just come and get it from the spigot at the bottom of the tower.

The pump gets locked up in a safe place (lest someone steal it) until we build a little block house for it.

Joan Adams (class of ’73)