On Saturday the 22nd of November “Stichting boot vluchteling” (the boat refugee foundation) organised a lustrum event, a series of lectures and interviews followed by an information fair in Amsterdam.

Stichting boot vluchteling is a foundation that aims to provide essential humanitarian aid to people that are stuck in refugee camps on the edges of Europe. They do this by providing physical and mental healthcare and by raising awareness and trying to influence asylum policies throughout Europe.
In the past we have had the pleasure of including two course takers from this foundation in our annual T-week where they brushed up on valuable technical skills that can greatly increase self-reliance in the field.

We were honored when they proposed we could fill a stand at their information fair. Two of our members took the trip from Enschede to Amsterdam.

We arrived after a nice drive and set up a stand. One extra thing we added to this stand was a small quiz on recognizing car fluids. We took 8 jam jars filled with different oils, fuels etc. and whoever could guess the contents right won a small prize!

All in all it was a very interesting event, we got to hear some very moving stories from both volunteers and refugees that were present and got to share our T-week experiences with new people. 

We want to thank the Boat Refugee Foundation for inviting us!

 

On the early morning of October the 11th, six determined WOT members set out on a unique challenge: walking 40 km while carrying a complete drilling setup – and then drilling a well by hand. All this to raise funds for TADEH, a charity that teaches people to drill wells, as to sustainably supply safe drinking water.

The organization began weeks in advance and included raising awareness through every available channel: Whatsapp, email, social media, newspapers, and more. A GoFundMe campaign was also set up to raise funds, and many companies contacted for sponsorships.

The walk was a great success! Heavily packed our team crossed the finish line after just over 10 hours, where they were greeted by a vast group of friends, family and other supporters. Soon after, the drilling begun. A settling pit was dug, barasol mixed, and a drilling stem prepared. The soil turned out to be soft, and before long the second and third drilling rod were added. With more stems, the work became heavier and heavier. Finally the 6th and last pipe was in place. Working in pairs now, the stem was lifted, dropped and turned gain and again… until eventually, it was all the way in.

Then all pipes were removed, and a plastic casing inserted into the freshly drilled borehole. Using a simple marble pump, the water could then be extracted from the well. What an achievement!

The event raised 5580 euros in funds for TADEH, which will be used to train people in Zambia to drill their own wells. This way, we hope to have helped bring safe drinking water to many communities.
 

The introduction period is one of the most fun months at the WOT, where we meet new people that come here to learn and do fun activities. The first Intro activity was the Marble pump course. Here, kiddos learn how to use various pvc-forming skills to make a waterpump. It was once again remarkable to see how quickly a pile of pvc pipes turns into a big water fight, mostly with semi working water pumps. The kiddos were very excited about the technology and many WOT memories were made; And all this on the first activity.

This year’s soldering course had intro participants learning how to solder on prototyping boards by making a simple current limited LED circuit. The participants quickly took  the task upon them and quickly has a series of three LED’s glowing brightly (barring the LED’s lost through leaving out the resistors, may they Rest In Peace ☹).  With extra time left the participants were provided with a single pole double throw switch and instructed to design a circuit that would switch between the three LED’s and another one, also giving them some introductory knowledge to simple circuitry.

In preparation for the well drilling practical the next day, we were lectured by Menno about well drilling. During this lecture we were taught all kinds of drilling techniques while Menno talked about his own experiences. He showed us loads of demonstrations and actual drilling gear, which made the lecture very interesting to watch. Most importantly, the goal was set to drill at least 11 meters the next day, crushing the previous year's record of 9 meters.

Dragos: I was really excited to do the EMAS drilling as we had a lecture about it the day before. The actual drilling was way harder than I expected, especially on the hands, but it was fun to do. As tried to do a bit of everything, I can tell you that pumping was fun for the first five minutes, pulling the rope was not that hard if you had gloves on, otherwise you would get rope burn, and turning the drill was the most fun, but also the most exhausting part, in my opinion. All in all, I would do it again if the chance arises.

After a very successful GMA, where two old board members were freed from the WOT board, the remaining members gathered to play the greatest game ever played in the history of games: “WOT members, old and new, what do they know? Do they know things? Let’s find out!”

The game featured such categories as “Which myths have these two busty boys busted, and which myths busted these boys?” and “Get your gribby grabbers on those items and then tell us their diameters, lengths, or other measurements.”

After six nail biting rounds where WOT members showed off what they knew and learned many new things, everyone left a little wiser. And after only a little bit of cheating from the teams, Buurman and Buurman reigned supreme, winning the grand prize of six chocolate bars and wrapping up an eventful night.

The third Thursday of the introduction evenings brought a great opportunity for every broke student, both old and new: fix your bike for free! Participants quickly discovered what was really expected: to get their own hands dirty! Soon, bikes were flipped upside down, saddles removed, and wheels rolling around, where small groups teamed up to lend each other a helping hand. By the end of the night, a whole fleet of bikes, of both participants and WOTters, rolled out of the workshop in a better shape than when they had arrived that afternoon. We hope to have learned the participants an occasional practical skill along the way!

In the last week of the introduction period, we (the new WOTers) were instructed to make a shelf bracket out of steel. During this workshop course, we all had to pair up and were taught all kinds of techniques to process steel by older WOT members. These techniques included cutting & bending and most importantly: welding steel and using an angle grinder. At the end of the workshop course, everyone succeeded in making a shelf bracket. One too few to actually attach a bookshelf.

This is the last introduction activity and this evening was very similar to what we do on a normal Wednesday evening. We did not have that much turn up, but with the people that were at the WOT this evening we did a lot! We started fixing the Farmers’ pump, people practiced welding for an EMAS set that will be used for Wot Walks For Water and we continued building things for the hydroponics system. And in the end everyone helped clean the workshop and enjoyed the campfire afterwards. Now the new members are really ready for the WOT.