The Charity “Just a Drop”

Tess Bettison of “Just a Drop” receiving the Award from Dr Paul Golby CBE FREng, Chair of NATS with Master Engineer Dr Dolores Byrne OBE [image courtesy of Mark Witter Photography]

Just a Drop, working with local partners and communities, delivers sustainable safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects across 6 countries: Zambia, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Uganda, transforming lives.

In late 2023, the Engineers Trust awarded the third Engineering Outreach Grant of £5,000 to Just A Drop for an engineering project that contributes to the relief of poverty in Libeko, Mumbwa District, East Zambia.  The borehole rehabilitation project replaces corroded pipes with uPVC riser pipes with stainless steel couplings, so rapid corrosion problems are avoided in the future and maintenance costs are much reduced. And if needed, a new platform is cast, and pump installed. This will provide safe access to water all year round for over 282 people in Libeko, Mumbwa District.

This is a remote rural setting with a poor, disadvantaged community;  who are presently required to take their water from a dirty pond, their only water source which is some 1.5km away, and is highly suspected to be causing sickness.

The Engineers Trust Grant forms a significant part of the total cost of the project which is expected to complete in the summer 2024.

Alongside this grant, for the first time this year, two runner up awards were made by the Engineers Trust; each for £1000.

The first runner up award was made to the Zambezi Sunrise Trust dedicated to the relief of poverty and support of education in Zambia. The £1,000 grant has enabled the construction of an insaka at Linda Community School, Livingstone, Zambia. An insaka is a traditional circular thatch roofed gazebo used by the community for schooling and holding meetings in the evening for community projects.

The second runner up award of £1000 was made to BuildAid, a construction-based charity that supplies pro-bono professional advice, services and funding for non-profit and community organisations worldwide. It has developed sand dam technology to provide water, associated infrastructure works, provision of seeds and full agricultural, hygiene and management in Kenya.

The Engineering Outreach Grant was launched in 2021 for a specific project or programme of work that uses engineering in the relief of poverty where the timeline and measurable outcomes are clearly defined.    Applicant organisations are restricted to UK registered Charities, but the delivery can be world-wide.

The Worshipful Company of Engineers Charitable Trust (the Engineers Trust) acknowledges excellence in engineering, supports engineering education and research, gives grants and assists in the relief of hardship and poverty.