Beaufort West- Water Crisis
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19 Dec 2010
Water is a scarce commodity in Beaufort West
Al-Imdaad Foundation Response
21 Feb 2010In the early months of 2011, The Al-Imdaad Foundation embarked on a project to assist the drought stricken town of Beaufort West by sending tankers of water to the desperate inhabitants. The town had been without beneficial rains since October 2010 and rain did not seem to be forthcoming. With the dam drying up and the few boreholes in the town nearing empty, the picture for Beaufort West began to look bleak indeed.
When the heavens refused to open, The Almighty sent help through an inspired individual by the name of Theuns Coetzee from Bonnievale Farms who donated 200 000 litres of water and then challenged other companies to equal or better his contribution. Bonnivale’s Dream Project dared all towns and businesses to get involved by issuing a challenge on RSG Radio. What happened thereafter can be described as nothing other than a miracle. People from all cultures and all walks of life started to get involved and the project started to gain momentum. The amazing thing about this project is that it was done completely in good faith. There were no contracts, no meetings, nothing but faith and trust. People who were complete strangers were brought together by other strangers and soon the whole operation was being conducted by an estranged “family”. By word of mouth and phone calls between the people who were involved and those who wanted to get involved this project snowballed into something that exceeded everyone’s expectations. The only explanation for the success of this project is that it happened through the mercy of the Almighty.
The Al-Imdaad Foundation was made aware of this project by Brother Yunus Moola from Bloemhof. Shortly after his phone call, enquiries were made and thereafter an appeal was launched to our donors who responded splendidly well. As soon as the appeal was made, funding started to flow in. Such is the generosity of our donors that the Al Imdaad Foundation was able to sponsor 60 tankers, each with the capacity to transport 34000 litres of water. This amounted to over 2 million of litres of water distributed by the Muslim community in South Africa, which made us one of the biggest donors towards this project!
On Tuesday the 22nd of February 2011, the Beaufort West Municipality celebrated the achievement of reaching the target of 5 million litres of water for Beaufort West. Being one of the biggest donors, the Al Imdaad Foundation was invited to attend the ceremony as a guest of honour. The Beaufort West municipality received our team warmly and hosted our members fantastically well. Members of the AIF Team were taken to the water treatment plant, the dam and the reservoir into which the donated water was stored in. The AIF team then attended a town council meeting at which it was awarded with the Freedom of Beaufort West award, a very special and lofty status to be honoured with.
In the early months of 2011, The Al-Imdaad Foundation embarked on a project to assist the drought stricken town of Beaufort West by sending tankers of water to the desperate inhabitants. The town had been without beneficial rains since October 2010 and rain did not seem to be forthcoming. With the dam drying up and the few boreholes in the town nearing empty, the picture for Beaufort West began to look bleak indeed.
2 Million Litres water for Beaufort West
