a friend experiences Heinz-Peter Brockhaus from the conditions in a village in Rwanda. Now the man from the district of Starnberg, Germany, has started the construction of a Pipeline.
Christine put wineSometimes, random encounters lead to places you never dreamed of. Heinz Peter Brockhaus and his wife Sieglinde make this experience two years ago in a stopover in Amsterdam on the flight from Glasgow to Munich. A black African speaks to you in very good English. He told that he came from Rwanda, Etienne Ngabonziza hot, but Stefan call, because of the French name, remember too much of the Belgian colonial masters. He was studying in Eichstätt and wishes to become a priest, but he sure as hell was not.
The Rwandans and the Wörthseer stay in contact and know more and more of Stefan, who hails from a small village on the border with Tanzania. For example, more than half of the inhabitants of Gikombe has no clean drinking water. Every Morning, at six o'clock, when the sun rises and the parents to the field work, the children are sent to fetch water to the neighboring village. According to Gahama are about two kilometers, the children have to walk through the hilly landscape, over Stock and stone It takes two hours to get back home and go to school. On the way back, you wear a yellow canister on the head, with 15 or 20 liters of water filled.
The Wörthseer Heinz Peter Brockhaus.
(photo: Nila Thiel)Heinz-Peter Brockhaus, who was born in Westphalia and studied business administration and mechanical engineering and until his retirement in the case of a large industry service provider as a project Manager worked. The 64-Year-old has idea of Numbers and technology, he speaks English and French, and maybe it was no coincidence that the Catholic Stefan has carefully addressed Brockhaus, but a divine Providence.
home begins to plan Brockhaus and to be expected. The water for Gikombe should come from the sources in the neighboring village. A new Pipeline must be built. Engineering, he can't, of wells and water pipes and grants, he knows quite as much. So, he gets help. Of the Stadtwerke Fürstenfeldbruck he gets lots of tips. He got off the phone with the Exterior, Interior and the Ministry of development, ask for support, of course, also financial. Finally, the whole project cost is estimated around 25 000 Euro. However, for a private initiative there is no money. Only the German Embassy in Kilgari supports small projects with grants. The application is located.
On paper, the project, as Brockhaus on 2. August 2018 to Rwanda flies. Will receive it in Kigali from Stefan and Laurien Iyakaremye, whose cousin and best friend. At Laurien, whose wife Devothe and the small son of Shama, living in a suburb of Kigali, you can stay the Wörthseer. Two weeks ago, he has time to get together with the friends of the project on the way. You establish a small project group, in the with Francoise and Adele, two women involved.
The group has luck. You will find in an exhibition in Kigali two local manufacturers of water tanks and Pipelines. Means: The Material must not be imported and expensive. But as Brockhaus and his comrades-in-arms to another outlet point, the Water in Gahama look at, and then look above the sources: the sheer horror and despair. No other sources, no water. But at least the water tank is in good condition.
"Nothing is more important than development aid on the spot"In Gikombe has now established a water Committee. The Chairman has the redeeming answer, says Brockhaus. Obviously, the line is growing. In addition, had been there in the spring, workers on behalf of the authority and the untapped sources would have sealed largely because too much water would have destroyed parts of the banana plantations below the source area. Everything is repairable. Huge Sigh Of Relief.
Without permits and tenders in Rwanda, nothing, the Heinz Peter Brockhaus know now. However, the friends are able to convince both the Secretary of the Executive - our district is comparable - as well as the President of the government in Kayonza, Jean Claude Murenzi, from your volunteer project. The building permit is issued in November. Developed two sources of fresh water, it is to be built, a Pipeline and two washing stations and four fresh water tanks. "The complete earthworks to be carried out by the Local population," says Brockhaus. The development of the sources will be monitored by the authorities.
RwandaRwanda, which is also called "the Land of 1000 hills", is located in Central Africa-African Union is part of the East Africa (equivalent to the European Union). The capital city of Kigali, approximately three million inhabitants. A total of about 18 million people live in Rwanda. Gikombe, the is located near the Tanzanian border, is a remote place with almost 2900 inhabitants.
Heinz Peter Brockhaus has met Rwanda as a country in the 21st century. Century had arrived - "the Internet, there are up in the remotest corner", and on the other hand, is still in the 18th century. Century am. The power supply is totally inadequate.
the official languages are French and English. The word comes from the German from the time when Rwanda was still part of the German-Africa: Umuzungu. The Germans built at that time, many schools and hospitals and were not so unpopular. However, the buildings almost always there, where the Locals lived. Therefore, the officers and soldiers came and gave loudly and again and again the statement: "Move, Move". It was then Umuzungu. "Umuzungu is white in the eyes of the Rwandans always, very smart and has money," says Brockhaus.
The genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda is still suffering. With regard to the equality of women, the East African country in the world to fifth place, more than 60 percent of parliamentarians are women - the highest rate in the world. csn
After two weeks of Brockhaus flies home. He is so tired that he sleeps through even the landing. "I've never worked so intensively," he says. But it had a lot of fun and was an exciting time. Now he has leisure for the home and garden in stone Creek, for all the Work that remained before his retirement. In addition, he and his wife like to travel a lot. "It is important for us because it provides us new experiences, and friendships," he says.
of Course, the project group "drinking water for Gikombe", which consists of six members from Rwanda and three from Germany, is pleased about donations. They can be deposited in a Bank account for donations to the support Association Catholic country people movement (KLB) of the diocese of Eichstätt, and thus discontinued. The money is for the benefit of and without deductions to the project. "All of the trips to Rwanda were and are privately paid for" insured Brockhaus. More information can be found on the Homepage https://waterforgikombe.wordpress.com .
For Brockhaus, lived since 1981 in Wörthsee, is "nothing more important than development aid. Only in this way we prevent, that the inhabitants of Africa to flee from their homes because they can no longer make a living". We also put the utmost value on ensuring that the residents actively engaged and hard. "That you do with us."
In September, after the end of the dry season, the drinking water-project completed and inaugurated. Then also, Heinz Peter Brockhaus and his wife, Sieglinde will be flying to Rwanda. Can live with Father Kizito in a guest room of the priest community. There are even electric power, running water, a shower and a toilet. During his first stay in Gikombe stayed Brockhaus stayed next to a goat pen.
Stefan is not a pastor. He is currently training to be a nurse in Eichstätt. Then he can build, if he goes back to his home, in his village of Gikombe a hospital ward.