ABDF

• Project Completed Update! (See below)
• Location: Mangikkadu, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
• Recipients:127 families
• Objective:Build a water tank.
• Estimated cost:$1,265 US

Downtown Mangikkadu.

Mangikaddu is a hamlet of 127 families three kilometers from Navatkadu, the site of last year's water tank project. That particular project was so useful, so popular, that two villages have requested their own tanks; we have chosen Mangikkadu to build first.

The water tank will go here, between this old open (and dry) well, and the village kovil (Hindu temple). Project Manager Bennett Hinkley is standing to the right.

All the inhabitants of Mangikkadu are rice farmers; there is one tiny ramshackle shop that sells daily necessities such as laundry detergent. The hamlet suffers from the same water problem as nearby Navatkadu; the water table is exceedingly deep, with a layer of bedrock and gravel between it and the surface. This makes drilling tube wells prohibitively expensive. But beside that, the groundwater on the west side of the lagoon separating the Navatkadu area from Batticaloa town is brackish, with salinity too high to be safe to drink. Thus what water is brought to the surface is used mostly for washing and watering gardens. Presently the villagers have two choices for drinkable water. They can either wait for the local water truck to drive through the village, or they can walk several kilometers to a small, old, unmaintained tank (the Sri Lankan term for an open reservoir) and fill up there.

Mangikaddu residents begin the long trek to a local water tank.

ABDF.org chose to build in Mangikkadu first because the situation is so dire and second the residents so very poor. Construction began on April 29th 2009, and will be completed around the end of May.

This project is being specifically funded by the people of Derbyshire, England and especially the local high school, Tibshelf Community School. The money was given to ABDF.org by two friends, Jerry and Sue Allen, who are residents of Derbyshire, and also friends of the Project Manager. It is Jerry Allen who was the Jephcott Charitable Trust representative for the Peryapullumalai School Project. Thank you Jerry and Sue! But especially: Thank you Derbyshire!

Project Completed Update - June 22, 2009

The new water tank!

Brought to you by the folks in Derbyshire.

Project manager Bennett is pleased to say that the water tank project in Mangikkadu has been completed. Yesterday (June 21, 2009) he and our local partner Prabha visited the site. The tank had its first filling four days ago. Local villagers gathered to express their thanks for the tank, which has already proven a big help to them. No more waiting for hours in the sun for the water truck! No more missing water deliveries!

Mangikkadu residents.

The tank is already in use.