Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia

In March, BB2C’s founder and president, Paula Shirk, was chosen as one of Brooklyn, New York’s Extraordinary Women

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:32:31 +0000

In March, BB2C’s founder and president, Paula Shirk, was chosen as one of Brooklyn, New York’s Extraordinary Women. The honor, bestowed by District Attorney Charles Hynes, was in recognition of Paula’s tireless work on behalf of people in need in Cambodia. D.A. Hynes praised Paula’s “exceptional selflessness, dedication and compassion.”

Paula and sons Eli and Rudi accepting award from Brooklyn's District Attorney Hynes

New local businesses established to distribute our pumps

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:43:03 +0000

We are excited about a new direction the pump project is taking: Three stores run by local people are being set up to sell the pumps. The stores are located in the villages of Chhouk Kranhas, Andaung Tramoung, and Chor. These new businesses reflect our basic belief that entrepreneurship is the foundation for positive, sustainable change.

The storeowners who sell the pumps will be trained in how to use and maintain them, as well as how to fix them if necessary. They will also keep an inventory of pumps and replacement parts. BB2C is the distributor of the pumps.

Now the pump project can provide extra income for not only the farmers, but also the storeowners. We believe that because of the pumps’ ease of use, price and durability, these new businesses will do quite well and bring much needed income to the community.

We find another low-cost, low-tech tool to help more farmers: A simple Auger Drill.

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:37:41 +0000

Although the Kickstart pump is working very well in our villages, it is used only by farmers with access to water from ponds, hand-dug wells or lakes. We are concerned about the others who don’t have a nearby water source.

We realized that the KickStart hip pump hose can go down a 2” tube well to reach the water table. So we asked ourselves–what if we could find an appropriate drill to dig a hole to the water table? Then farmers could, with minimum expense, connect to water, and use the pump to bring it to the surface to irrigate their fields. (Caveat–in some circumstances this may not work–the water table can’t be deeper than 7 meters [23feet] and the terrain has to sustain drilling.)

We did extensive research and consulted with experts, but found that no one is working on the development of low-cost drilling. No “off the shelf” solution exists. After a long search, we located pictures of a drill being used for this purpose in Africa. Our staff in Cambodia, along with the farmers, is in the process of fabricating a prototype of the drill. With their expertise and resourcefulness, we are confident they will soon succeed.

The pumps arrived – 26 pumps are now operational in Chhouk Kranhas, Andaung Tramoung and Prey Pea

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:56:20 +0000

The pumps are operational in Chhouk Kranhas, Prey Pea and Andaung Tramoung.

However, in Andaung Tramoung Village, population 225 families (average 5 people per family), only two brave farmers bought the pump because they have a water source near their fields; the remainder of the villagers have no water source during the dry season.

But we think we have a solution! It may be possible for the hip pump hose to go down a 2″ tube well which can be dug with a 2″ auger drill. If the water table is not deeper than 7 meters (23 feet) and if the terrain will accept drilling – then this could be a very inexpensive method to open up irrigation to all the farmers in Andaung Tramoung, not just those that live near a water source.

We are in the process of figuring this out. It could be almost as exciting a development as the pump technology.

50 Pumps Shipped From Mombasa!

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:41:26 +0000

Our first significant order of 50 pumps was shipped by container ship on October 12. In the past we had dreadful experiences clearing customs (read about our bureaucratic nightmare of red tape and corruption.) The Kick Start staff thinks the scrutiny won’t be as intense since we are sending the pumps by ship containers. Wish us luck.

BILL OF LADING

“Port of loading, Mombasa, Kenya on the vessel Flora Delmas. Routing is via Singapore. Transit time approximately 22 days. Custom clearance has to be down in Sihanoukville, Cambodia prior to oncarriage of cargo by our agent in Cambodia and trucked overland to Phnom Penh. ETA 11/05/09″