Kimmet helping villagers get clean water

By Mike Ford, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Wednesday, April 9, 2008 (7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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During a December trip to Alabama, Neil Kimmet helped build two houses and helped raise $28,000 for the Fuller Center for Housing that week. Kimmet is now involved in the effort to build water towers for poor villages in the African nation of Cameroon.CINCINNATI — College students are known for various extra-curricular activities aside from athletics. For one Fort Jennings native, philanthropy tops the list.
Neil Kimmet is in his sophomore year at the University of Cincinnati. He is also in his second year of involvement with Serve Beyond Cincinnati, a student group that undertakes relief projects to underdeveloped regions.
“I’ve been to places like Alabama and Kentucky to build houses. We usually sponsor trips to places like Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala,” he said.
Kimmet said these projects may require raising $30,000 but the group’s current undertaking is its most expensive: water towers for poor African villages.
“A guy from this village in Cameroon who came here told us about his dad’s plan to create water towers and a piping system for two villages. Right now, they’re in a bad situation. They have to walk for an hour to get water and have been trying to get someone to help; we just happened to stumble across it. We have to raise $150,000 to build it, so this is our most ambitious task yet. We’re trying to get all the help we can,” he said.
Water-borne diseases are common when streams used for bathing are used as a source for unfiltered and untreated drinking water. Such is often the case when a group suffers from extreme poverty.
Kimmet will join other UC students in giving up their Christmas break to go to the villages of Reh and Momyu, Cameroon.
“When they found out we were doing this, they started digging the trenches. We’ll go over in December to do some basic labor — whatever we can do to help them out,” he explained.
Students will stay with indigenous families and take time for cultural experiences such as visiting markets. He says villagers already have approximately 30 percent of the needed funding but can afford no more.
The son of Jeff and Mary Kimmet is excited to help those in need.
“The stream isn’t sanitary, so they’re building the tower to capture water and filter it at two different points for the two villages. Then, each village will have their own faucets for clean drinking water,” he said.
Villagers try to capture rain water from their roofs during the rainy season, which is a small portion of an otherwise dry year. Therefore, another water source is needed.
Reh and Momyu are located in the northwest province and their economy is primarily generated by trade. There is no running water, electricity or sanitation, making it unsafe to drill wells.
Kimmet added a family of five can be sustained for two or three months on $100 U.S.
To donate, contact Serve Beyond Cincinnati at 455 Steger Student Life Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219, or visit uc.edu/groups/sbc/about.html

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