Young Farmers are an ingenious lot.
A group of 12 from Devon have just returned from Tanzania where they installed a water pump for the Livestock Training Institute near Arusha.
They had twinned up with the Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust to ensure running water was provided for the diary unit at the college; this will be used to supply fresh water for the pasteurisation of the milk which will then be sold at the college farm shop.
The pump, a system designed by Phil Selwyn, is run by water pressure and so needs no electricity, which is limited at the college.
"The whole group worked extremely hard leading up to the project where we raised over £13,000 to cover costs of equipment, materials, tools etc," says project leader Peter Reed, Devon YFC county chairman.
"During the project, we had to dig through tree roots, rock and soil so that pipes could be laid.
"We hit a number of hurdles with sourcing the correct materials at the right standards being the major issue, but being true Young Farmers we persevered and cracked on to ensure we completed the project and left the college with fresh water so they could diversify and provide another source of income to the dairy enterprise.
"We had to cap water at a natural spring coming from the rocks, which was done by building a tank around the rocks; this water then had to be carried via 150 metres of four-inch pipe to the header tank, which then had two two-inch metal pipes transferring water 35ft down hill to the pumps; the pumps would then send the water up through a one-inch pipe 180m to the dairy unit where we built a collection tank.
"The water was then taken from the tank via pipe to the pasteurising building, water from the overflow pipe was then directed to another tank where the community could collect fresh drinking water and water for domestic use."