Solved! A 2007 year-old Problem

Wednesday, April 18th, 2007. That's the date to remember as the day when everything changed in the village of Gouria, in the Extreme North, Cameroon, West Africa. That's the day when engineers probing for water found a mother-lode underground water lens in the village, and that's the date when life expectancy took a quantum leap forward.

Water is the stuff of life, and for a village that ran completely dry for many months of the year, a source of clean, potable, and sustainable water supply within the village is a major development, and the latest chapter in a period of only seven years.

During that time education came to the village in the form of the very best private school in the entire extreme north. Malima Primary School is realizing outstanding results. Then came health care in an accessible clinic; and the next major event was the connection of the village with electricity; and now, the jewel in the crown, Water, water, water.

To say that those of us who make up the G8, otherwise known as The Malima Support Group are happy is to grossly understate the case. We believe it to be a sign that this was ordained to happen by the speed with which it took place. On Monday, April 16th the first try took place but resulted in an unsuccessful attempt. On Wednesday, 18th, a second attempt was made and tapped into the very thing that was almost too good to hope for.

The knock-on effect of this development is so awesome that it is hard to envision all at once. We can expect better health, better year-round nutrition through a more balanced diet; more plentiful food supply through the ability to grow more varied crops; and yes, ultimately, a longer life expectancy.

For children not yet born they will inherit an environment within which will exist the framework for a quality of life that simply did not exist before.

So well done to the China Geo-engineering Corporation in Cameroon; and well done to all of you who kept the faith. Well done to Felix and to all of us, and especially to Judith Burnett, Congratulations! Your dreams have come true. How special is that?

The taste of success is so very sweet.