Pro Tool Reviews really loves the idea of backing charities that reach out to those in need. Makita caught our attention recently when they provided tools to Learning Planet, a non-profit based in the UK. Learning Planet will use the tools to rebuild schools in Nepal. The group has rebuilt a 14-room school in the remote village of Dhawa. Now, Dhawa is unique in that it had no roads, electricity or piped water prior to Learning Planet’s work. The team even installed the village’s 1st solar power supply. So here’s the interesting thing – to get to Dhawa, you must drive 9 hours on mountain roads via bus from Kathmandu to Arughat on
some of the world’s most dangerous mountain roads. According to Learning Planet, the final 18 miles takes 4 hours and you can’t make it at all if there is rain. Then you have to walk 2 hours (in the dry season, about 8 times that when it’s monsoon season). So when you think about what it takes to get building materials and Makita power tools to the village – that’s no small matter.
Because of this, everything is taken from the local area whenever possible – including bar steel, tools, nails and cement. They literally cut stone from the hillsides, and they bake brick old-school, using clay from the villages. Local villagers were employed to mine over 100 cubic meters of stone, cut and transport wood from the forest, and help clear the site. On top of that, they require a lot of volunteers that come in and out to help get everything accomplished.
So what do the villagers think about Makita cordless tools? Justin Wickham, co-founder of Learning Planet says:
“We’re constantly wowing the local carpenters with the Makita cordless tools – especially the recipro’ and circular saws – and the impact driver. Driving a 4 inch bolt into wood harder than oak, in a couple of seconds, always gets their attention. I’m helping them rebuild a dangerous bridge this summer as some small children fell through it recently and one didn’t survive – and I know we wouldn’t be able to do it without the Makita impact driver.”
Lots of people are getting involved in this and other projects, including Epson, Environ, Lemnis Lighting, British Airways,
Kingfisher and Makita UK. All we can say is: kudos. Great work.
