Andre Graff has dedicated his life to the town of West Sumba.
6 November 2015 11:47
Brilio.net/en - The prospect of leaving the comfort of home might scare some people but that wasnt the case for Andre Graff. This French native happily left the luxuries of his old life behind and put down roots in West Sumba, Indonesia. There, in the East Nusa Tenggara region, he embarked on a new life mission and became a well digger.
Graff didnt make the decision to change his life overnight. In fact, a series of events led him to Indonesia. For years, he worked as a hot air balloon pilot in his native country. Then, Andre contracted a disease that nearly killed him. After he recovered, he began to reexamine his life. And he decided he wanted it to have more purpose.
After a trip to Indonesia, Graff became interested in the local life. He toured areas like the Ruing archipelago, Sabu Raijua, Sumba and Lembata, and he began to notice a theme. Many of the citizens he encountered were struggling to find clean water.
He watched in wonder as the people of West Sumba walked two kilometers each day just to fetch water. And he knew he wanted to do something to help them. So he decided to learn how to dig wells.
Graff reached deep into his own pockets to pay for concrete culverts that help keep the water from becoming contaminated by mud. And instead of hiring a company to do the work for him, he personally traveled to the excavation sites and did the work himself.
He didnt stop there. Graffs goal is to give the locals the ability to enjoy their new drinking water with as little hassle as possible. Now that the project is well underway, hes also working on building a water filtration system. It will not only save time, but reduce environmental damage and pollution by limiting the amount of firewood used to boil water. While Graff is currently working on the West Sumba project on his own, he hopes that someday the Indonesian government will collaborate with him.
