Employee-run charity funds new borehole at children’s home
One of the most critical needs for the home, now sees the need being fulfilled.
A new borehole at TLC Children’s Home will offer much relief and is a glimmer of hope for the home and surrounding area.
Consulting engineering firm Royal HaskoningDHV, founded in the Netherlands in 1881, with offices in South Africa since 1922, focuses on integrating engineering, design, consultancy, software, and technology to deliver more added value for clients.
The company is funding the drilling and installation of a water borehole for the TLC Children’s Home in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg.
The borehole installation, valued at over R200 000, will provide a reliable and safe water source for the children’s home and the surrounding community and will be unaffected by both load-shedding and water-shedding. The borehole’s funding was issued by the BrITE Foundation, a charity fund set up and run by Royal HaskoningDHV’s employees.
Karen King, Royal HaskoningDHV’s climate resilience director said: “The TLC Children’s Home does incredible work providing a safe and nurturing environment for vulnerable babies and children, and empowering birth mothers, mother mentors and foster mothers.”
She added: “I’ve worked with the home for years, and throughout our interactions, it has become clear that reliable access to clean, potable water is one of its most critical needs. Through the funding we’ve received from the BrITE Foundation, we’re able to address this issue.”
Walkerville forms part of the severely under-resourced Sedibeng district, which includes several low-income areas such as Sebokeng, Sharpeville and Orange Farm.
The area has a 54% unemployment rate and almost 40% of the population live below the accepted poverty line.
Like other areas, Walkerville has been hard hit by the country’s power and water crises. Municipal water is expensive, and supply is erratic. The water outages that last for days at a time, some longer than a week, severely impact the home’s ability to perform its duties.
In this peri-urban environment, boreholes provide a viable and sustainable solution.
“Here, boreholes offer a renewable and reliable supply of water and there’s a low chance of groundwater contamination,” King explained.
“The borehole we are installing will alleviate local water scarcity issues by providing a reliable, sustainable source of water for the children’s home. By reducing the home’s dependency on municipal water, this installation will help other households and organisations in the area, too.”
Over 100 people stand to benefit from the borehole at the home, including staff, babies, children, mothers and volunteers. The local community will also be able to draw water from the borehole during water outages.
Royal HaskoningDHV is managing the borehole’s installation, which includes assessing various groundwater reports and overseeing the drilling process. The participating team of hydrologists and sustainability specialists has also committed to assisting with the ongoing monitoring of the borehole in the future.
In line with the BrITE Foundation’s funding criteria, the project has to be completed within a year it’s likely to wrap up within the next six months. Projects must meet several criteria to qualify for funding, some of the most important of which include living up to Royal HaskoningDHV’s purpose to enhance society together, delivering societal value, being sustainable, and benefiting local communities.
“This borehole stands as a beacon of hope, not only for the children and staff of TLC but also for the wider Johannesburg community grappling with water and power-related challenges,” said TLC Children’s Home managing director Pippa Jarvis.
“By offering a sustainable water source, alleviates strain on our management team by giving us one less thing to worry about. This project exemplifies the essence of sustainability and community solidarity.”
Water scarcity and inadequate infrastructure disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including children.
Through interventions such as this, Royal HaskoningDHV is playing its part in assisting these communities by providing access to clean and reliable water, promoting health and hygiene, and helping organisations such as the TLC Children’s Home undertake their valuable work.
