The 14th October meeting of Anstruther Rotary welcomed Hamish Tait, from the neighbouring Rotary Club of St Andrews, as guest speaker. Hamish spoke of a major project being undertaken to assist in drought relief in the Gamboura area of Cameroon.

We heard that between 2007 and 2009 Hamish, with his wife Anne worked in the Extreme North Region of Cameroon under the auspices of VSO - and that this project has arisen as the result of a personal plea from Jean Tchao, who was the Pasteur of the village they stayed in.

Jean Tchao’s home village, Gamboura, has a population of 12,000 which is dependent on a total of twelve wells, nine of which fail during the dry season - lasting from October to May or June. The three remaining operational wells are insufficient for the needs of the population.

Hamish explained that the proposed solution is to put in five new boreholes at an estimated cost of £60,000. The project will be managed in partnership with the Fondation Bethléem (which works to reduce the effects of poverty and to help orphans, the handicapped, young mothers, the deaf, widows and abandoned children) and with the Rotary Club of Maroua. This local club will take on responsibility for supervising the project. A management committee will ensure the boreholes are maintained in a sustainable fashion, will manage financial contributions from the villagers to cover maintenance costs and will train local craftsmen to carry out maintenance and repair work. 


A number of Rotary clubs, including Anstruther, have provided support to the project, whilst St Andrews Rotary has promised a minimum of £5,000 and is looking to raise at least £10,000 with the objective of obtaining a Rotary Global Grant to be able to proceed with the planned work. 


Following questions, a vote of thanks was proposed by club member Ian McBain