After completing a trek in the Annapurna, Richard Backwell's trekking group visited Okhle to donate funds and equipment, catch up with our friends in the villages and, for some, be introduced to the villagers and see what had been achieved thanks to their fundraising efforts. To read the group's diary, click here.

With corporate sponsorship from Gifford in the form of a senior surveyor and a senior environmental scientist from Gifford, plus five graduate engineers and a journalist, renewables engineer Aidan Marchand and team arrived in Okhle shortly after Richard's trekking group and stayed on after their departure. After receiving an incredibly warm welcome, visiting the villages and attending ceremonies with the trekking group, the team spend just under three weeks working on the Raipali water project and surveying the village of Kot Guan to find out the best possible solution to the water problem there.

After visiting the various villages the Trust is involved with, the team began work on their first project: the water scheme at Raipali. Raipali village is at a height of approximately 1250m above sea level, in sight of the Himalayan Massif. The village lies on the opposite side of a spur from the spring where the villagers draw water. Many of the villagers face a steep climb of up to 95 vertical metres up rough steps to fetch their water (up to an hour per round trip, to collect approximately 20 litres of water). The task of collecting water is not only time-consuming and physically exhausting: it also limits the time and effort that can be committed to other activities in the village. Raipali is a community of subsistence farmers and as such is heavily reliant on good harvests and consistency of the monsoon rains. Having time to develop other skills with the potential to earn money will help the community develop and be better equipped to survive changes in weather patterns brought by climate change. In addition, easier access to water would allow the villagers to grow vegetables, spinach, garlic and onions in addition to their staples: rice, corn and millet, to supplement a diet which largely consists of dhal bhaat (rice, lentils and curried vegetables).

The Raipali water project began in 2006 with the construction of a 20,000 litre tank next to the spring to contain a buffer of water for later in the dry season. In 2007, two engineers from the Trust carried out the civil groundwork to install a pump sleeve, fed from the tank, that would house a standard borehole hand pump. The team's first challenge was to survey Raipali to determine the population distribution and site an upper tank to gravity feed tapstands to supply the village. While half the team surveyed the village with Jon and Phil from Gifford, putting our Nepali language skills (and international sign language skills) to the test, Aidan and the other half of the team installed and tested the hand pump and built the valve chamber and rising main. We sited the upper tank on the crest of the slope up which the pipe route had been laid (a steep scramble up rocks and over terraces, which nonetheless proved useful when we were testing the flow rate, as we could relay information up and down using a human chain!). With the pump up and running, we moved our attention to the small task of excavating the upper tank site. With a team of willing volunteers from the villages and a few picks and shovels, we set about removing part of a terrace to house the tank. A few days (and many a blistered hand) later, the mighty pit had been dug. The final task was to work out the most suitable pipe route and decide where the tapstands should be built, in consultation with the villagers. A government standard design upper tank, pipe and tapstands will be installed by the villagers in 2009, as these do not require external assistance. The installation of this Mono design handpump in Nepal represents the first known installation of this type of pump in the region and the first successful use of this pump at the base of a rising main rather than as a borehole pump, thus proving the concept for future use on other water schemes.

With the Raipali project substantially complete, the full team turned their attention up to the village of Kot Guan (up being the operative word: the village is a good 30-minute climb from Okhle, up some extremely unforgiving steps). Our surveyor and environmental scientist Jon and Phil had already started work surveying the village and held a meeting with the villagers to discuss the best ways to solve their water problem. The original idea suggested was to design a rainwater harvesting scheme to collect water during the monsoon; however, this was found not to be a viable option as too many tanks would be required to store enough water for the village. After discussion with the villagers, it was revealed that there is a spring situated over a col not too far from the top of the village. As Kot Guan is supposed to be supplied with electricity next year, we looked into the option of pumping water to the village from this spring. With the help of the villagers, we surveyed and marked out the best pipe route (using the only marker solution available, nail polish!), enclosed the spring in a chamber, tested the flow rate and went home with a new set of plans to put to Richard and Gifford.

Having been entertained by the Okhle villagers and invited to ceremonies in Ghala, Rbaje, Raipali and Bayapani, we were extended a further invitation to a meal and evening of dancing at one of the Raipali villagers's homes at the end of the expedition. We had got to know many of the villagers, some of whom spoke basic English, very well by the end of our time there, and they showed us amazing hospitality throughout the trip. We found the experience all the more rewarding because the communities were so willing to put all the effort they could into the projects during the short time we spent with them, and after we leave, the work goes on; such is their dedication to improving the everyday lives of their families and their appreciation for our input. The solutions we have helped complete at Raipali and prepare in Kot Guan are absolutely reliant on the hard work put in by the people they will serve, and the team ethos is one of the keys to the success of these projects we are so proud to be a part of.