Excellent! - excellentdevelopment.com

Sand dams are getting everywhere these days - including the UK Parliament.

Gregory Campbell MP has launched an Early Day Motion which highlights the work Excellent Development does building sand dams in Kenya, and has also spoken about us in Westminster Hall.

During a debate on drought and famine in Kenya, the MP for East Londonderry spoke about the difficulties caused by decreasing rainfall in the country.

Mr Campbell explained how sand dams capture seasonal rainfall and enable communities to break free from a cycle of drought, by providing year-round clean water for just £7 per person.

He also said that if such innovative thinking could be replicated across Africa, it could offer "hope to millions of people who otherwise would have none".

You can watch his speech here (Mr Campbell speaks about Excellent's work in Kenya between 5min26 and 9min05 in the video)

Forty-one MPs have already signed the Early Day Motion proposed by Mr Campbell. You can see who has signed and view the text of the Early Day Motion (EDM 400) here. In it Mr Campbell “expresses the hope that support for [the work of Excellent Development], and other, such ventures will be sufficient to allow them to expand their efforts and bring assistance to millions more throughout the East African region”.

This is exactly what Excellent are aiming to do: our 2020 vision is to see 3 million farmers each year gaining access to clean water and growing enough food to eat and sell.

We will achieve our vision both by raising funds to build sand dams, and crucially, by making the skills needed to build sand dams available to other organisations, many of which have a greater capacity to build sand dams than we currently do.

Having successfully built over 230 sand dams, we are in a unique position of knowledge and passion about this unusual technology. Although sand dams are the lowest-cost form of water provision, and are extremely sustainable, they are little used.

The amazing impact of sand dams on rural drylands communities is not widely known about, and the techniques needed to make them successful are even less understood. In having these skills to share, Excellent Development is poised to make a great impact on the lack of clean water in rural Africa. The more people we can find to share our skills with the better!

ACTION: Ask your MP to sign EDM 400 to increase awareness of our work – you can contact them via www.writetothem.com (this site also tells you who your MP is if you are not sure).

Ask your friends to do the same!

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