Forty families from a Peruvian village will this month be able to enjoy their first supply of fresh drinking water, thanks to Bradford people.

Now the Bradford-based charity Water for Kids is embarking on a new project to supply clean, clear water and sanitation to six schools outside the Peruvian capital, Lima.

For decades people living in the village of Quebrada Verde in the parched lands south of Lima have been forced to walk for at least 20 minutes to a polluted well for their water.

But any day now they will have a series of standpipes in the village for clean, clear water, supplied by a pump.

Cash for the £20,000 project was raised largely through donations from the public, businesses, and small community groups across the Bradford district. More than £10,000 was collected and matched by the European Union. Allied Colloids paid to fly the pump over.

Project co-ordinators David Clapham, of Bradford Council, and former Bradford Council employee Stewart Petrie from Bingley, who now works for Richmondshire Council, say it will make a tremendous difference to the villagers' lives.

Mr Petrie said: "All the villagers will be affected. The pump will bring water from a bore hole fed by a small reservoir and transfer it to standpipes and taps. Beforehand children used to fetch the water, walking to the wells with cans strapped to the family donkey."

The villagers worked hard, helping to dig trenches and lay pipes. They also helped to build a communal kitchen and sanitary block.

The charity is now waiting to hear whether they will receive £150,000 from the Department for International Development towards a £300,000 scheme to supply water to six schools with thousands of pupils. The remainder has already been raised by the charity's sister organisation in Lima.

Fundraising will also continue for a sewerage system for Quebrada Verde, which will take away dirty water and treat it effectively. It is also hoped that money can be raised to help bring water to a neighbouring village.

Water for Kids is also seeking a grant from the National Lottery Charities Board international grants panel.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.