Discover some of our Communities

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We need Site Inspection: Donations; $2k to set up inspections of the work, assure correct installation was provided and verify the design was followed.

Footprints has been working with this community for over 10 years. The construction of the water distribution system is now 70% complete, but inspection of the constructed works has not been verified.  As everyone knows sometimes there's a big difference between what is planned and what is constructed. Footprints has been tasked to assist the community in determining if the constructed works meets with the design which was provided. We want to thank everyone that worked on this project including the University of Pittsburgh, but especially Michigan Technological University. Their unwavering support and continued professional work products made the success possible. We're happy that the people of this village have water to their homes for the first time.  

Sector 4 within the community is one of four areas where the water distribution is unequal. This sector is located topographically so that the supply of water is not possible, regardless of where we put the water tank. This issue was known to the university designers and footprints since the inception of our coordination efforts. We are working now with the community to develop a work plan, bill of materials, design and solution for 17 homes in this sector so that they will have water.

We need shipping: Used books are bought; we need to send them...read our story 

Child Survival Aid Ghana (CSAG) is the foundation that helps children from families of need. They mainly focus on providing them books for their education. Footprints along with books for Africa has been sending shipments of books and a third is ready to leave the United states. Meanwhile the third world foundation through a generous contribution provided a grant. This grant was used to purchase chairs, desks, shelves and materials. It's great to see the children read and nice to see the teachers and mentors with them.

The Third World Foundation grant was for 18,000 Cedi, or $2700.00 USD.   This generous gift allowed the CSAG foundation to purchase much needed furniture. Chairs, tables and most importantly bookshelves were purchased. These will allow for more comfortable and compatible learning environments. The children will be able to read in comfort and the learning material can be displayed in a much more attractive and appealing manner. It's great to see that the CSAG foundation is attracting this type of health and we are glad to be a small part of promoting their mission.

You can see in the album the children perusing the books, picking them up and in many instances sharing the stories that they contain.  This is a great example of how powerful a book can be. In communities that are not challenged electronic and digital versions of literature have greatly replaced printed bound books. But there's no escaping that in both types of communities you really cannot replace a book. It's something that can be shared. It's something that can survive one reader and be available to another. It's a gift that keeps providing new readers the same entertainment and growth no matter how many times it's been read or how dog eared and worn its cover may be.  In fact, reach out and grab the most worn, torn binder on the shelf; it's evidence that inside is a great story.

And then there are our mentors. Teachers, leaders, fathers and mothers. These are the real backbone and inspiration in these situations. It's wonderful to see them interact with the students. It's impossible to think that these images could be so joyous and fruitful without them. We applaud them and appreciate their efforts. We dedicate ourselves to providing them more resources so that they can do their work. We're grateful for any assistance that we can have and look forward to more shipments of books from Books for Africa.  Thank you.

We need Computers: $5k Funding to to finance additional satellite imagery which will be used by our clients to determine the impact on watershed changes to the supply of water in the lake Gatun,  Panama area.  

RIVER CHANGES: The following tributaries that flow into Gatún Lake are being studied.

Arroyo Gigantito: A small river in the province of Western Panama, which was naturally altered when the canal construction work began, reducing its length and channel. Its flow has decreased and its channel has been modified over the last 20 years, resulting in a loss of water flow.

Cirí Grande River: Western Panama. It is born at an elevation of 921 meters above sea level. It has a catchment area of 208.3 km2, representing 9% of the Panama Canal watershed. It has two main tributaries, the Cirí and Ciricito rivers, as well as 15 other minor tributaries, including streams and creeks. It is 44,392 meters long. In 2010, the old section of the channel was modified, straightening out the course of the river.

Ciricito River: West Panama. Capira District. This river is born at 200 meters above sea level. It is 16,513 meters long. It contributes 7% of the flow to Gatún Lake. Its water is very turbid, containing clay and detrital sediments. Rio Ciricito in 2010 was wider; its width during this period was on average 8 meters. It is now 6 meters wide and so carries less water.

SOIL COMPARISON:

Vegetation and soil erosion in the areas of settlements has had an effect on water shed capacity.  The communities have been responsible for reducing forest areas for crops and/or domestic animal husbandry. This has not been controlled, and therefore the areas surrounding these settlements, which border the watershed, have deteriorated significantly. The effect is creating large areas that we see in the satellite images as brown, devoid of vegetation, affecting the water environment and its ecosystem in general. This is one of the factors that has contributed to lower river flows.

 We need Site Surveillance: $3k funding for continued site surveillance which is needed to corroborate and certify satellite imagery of the Gatun Lake watershed. 

 Footprint is working with Integrated Logistic Solutions in the lake Gatun watershed area. This work is mostly done by satellite and in fact can only be done by satellite. Satellite imagery is part of the suite of tools which Footprint can deploy to a project. ILS routinely uses satellite imagery to conduct historical and contemporary analysis of watershed areas. Of most importance are the use of historical images which can compare what watersheds look like 10 or 15 years ago with what they look like today.

This publication juxtaposes images which show the very different conditions which you can find on the ground and which are not apparent in satellite imagery. Too often suppliers or providers rely on satellite imagery and submit these findings to their clients for consideration and action. But as we can see here there is a significant difference between what a satellite will show and what you find on the ground.

The other necessity of course is verifying elevations and locations on the ground and comparing these to those which are provided in satellite imagery. Again, this can only be done by an on site visit. These visits are costly and require the hire or use of rough terrain vehicles. They also often require local guides which are needed in order to navigate and find the different locations.

Footprints is happy to assist ISL in its work providing funding which helps the logistics which are required for successful project implementation. Partnering with a local affiliate and using local resources is the one and best solution to local problems.