Marion Medical Mission
Shallow Wells for Clean Water in Africa		 Contact Us Privacy Policy Donate
     
"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
   

Frequently Asked Questions

 

  1. Why the name "Marion Medical Mission"?
  2. What is a shallow well?
  3. How long do the wells last?
  4. Where do you get your parts for the wells?
  5. Can I specify where my well is installed?
  6. How do you do it with no overhead?
  7. Why do you take volunteers instead of just sending money?
  8. When do volunteers go and for how long?
  9. How do I get someone to come talk about MMM?
  10. Can I donate on line?
  1. Why the name "Marion Medical Mission"?

    2. MARION is the name of the town the founders live in (Marion, Illinois).  When we started we focused on taking medical volunteers to Africa but since 1990 have changed mostly to installing shallow wells.  This is preventative medicine.  See "Who We Are!" for more details.

  2. What is a shallow well?
    Our shallow wells are hand dug wells, 10 to 20 ft. deep, 6 ft across.  They are lined with bricks from the bottom up to about 2 ft above ground.  A concrete top slab is put on the top to seal it and a Mark V hand pump is installed in the top slab.  A concrete apron, 1 meter wide, is installed around the well with a drain leading off.   The villagers dig the well and make the bricks to line it.  The bricks are laid by a trained builder (African) working for us. See  the page WHAT IS A SHALLOW WELL for more details and see our Field Manual for how we build and install one..
  3. How long do the wells last?
    If the villagers take care of the well and pay their annual maintenance fee, the well will be repaired if it should break.  As long as they stay with the program, the well will last indefinitely.  While some of the parts of the pump may break, the maintenance program provides spare parts and a trained maintenance man to repair it. 
  4. Where do you get your parts for the wells?
    All of the parts for our wells are made in Africa by Africans.  Most of them are made in country - Malawi mostly. The cement is made in either Tanzania or Malawi.   The above ground pump mechanism is made from galvanized pipe which is cut and threaded into the pump in our own workshop in one of the 3 countries.  The downhole pipe is PVC pipe extruded in Lilongwe, Malawi.  The downhole parts, the foot valve, plunger etc, are manufactured in a machine shop in Lilongwe.
  5. Can I specify where my well is installed?
    NO! The locations of the wells, which villages get them and where they are located within a village are all determined at the local level - not from the top down.  We cannot install wells in scattered or isolated locations - they must be relatively near other shallow wells and the support system.  This allows one maintenance man to support 5 to 10 wells within a walking distance.  The actual villages to get wells are decided at the local level where they best know the needs and abilities of each village.
  6. How do you do it with no overhead?
    What we promise is that every dollar of donation is spent for the purpose it was donated for.  Therefore, if you give $400 for a well, then every penny of that goes to pay for a shallow well with no money taken out for overhead.  However, we do have a small overhead, as much as we try to minimize it.  This small overhead is covered by donations specified for that purpose, by in-kind donations, by interest earned on money invested waiting for the need to release it etc. It does not come out of donations designated for other purposes - or even out of un-designated donations.  See How You Can Help for more details.
  7. Why do you take volunteers instead of just sending money?
    There are 3 major reasons why we take volunteers over to Africa every year to help install shallow wells. They are:
    1). The volunteers do very important work - driving 4wd trucks to deliver parts and people to the well sites and to assist in the dedication of the wells. 
    2). The presence of the American volunteers in an African village says to the villagers that someone on the outside knows about them and cares about them.  We bring the love of Christ to them.  Many organizations send money to Africa to do good work - but to Africans the personal relationship is more important than mere "stuff".  Our appearing in person is an affirmation of their worth as people and the significance of that is something most Americans can't appreciate until they have experienced it.
    3). When our volunteers come back, they have been changed personally.   They have a new appreciation of the developing world and a new outlook on life - not just on Africa.  Also, our returned volunteers are our best ambassadors for the program and our best fund raisers.
  8. When do volunteers go and for how long?
    We take two teams of volunteers every year for 3 weeks at a time.  The first team goes from mid-September to early/mid October and the second team goes from early/mid October to early November. We always go to Africa to install the wells in September through November because that is the end of their dry season (the rains typically start in November) and the wells need to be installed when the water table is at the lowest level.
  9. How do I get someone to come talk about MMM?
    We have many volunteers in many parts of the country that are willing and eager to come speak to churches, schools, civic clubs or other organizations.  The best way to request this is to call or write our office (618)-997-5365 Tom@marionmedical.org and request this.  You should realize that while we have volunteers in many parts of the country, there are some where this is not possible,  We will try our best if you call us.  If we can't send a speaker, remember we do have a video and PowerPoint presentations we can send you to direct your own program.
  10. Can I donate on line?
    We do not accept on-line donations.  Any on-line donation whether by Credit card or by PayPal or equivalent has a cost involved.  This cost can be from 2% to 5% that would be overhead taken out of the donation.  This goes against our No Overhead Taken Out policy.  See How You Can Help for more information.