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 Planetโs work. The team even installed the villageโs 1st solar power supply. So hereโs the interesting thing โ to get to Dhawa, you must drive 9 hours on mountain roads via bus from Kathmandu to Arughat on
some of the worldโs most dangerous mountain roads. According to Learning Planet, the final 18 miles takes 4 hours and you canโt make it at all if there is rain. Then you have to walk 2 hours (in the dry season, about 8 times that when itโs monsoon season). So when you think about what it takes to get buildingย materials and Makita power tools to the village โ thatโs no small matter.
Because of this, everything is taken from the local area whenever possible โ including bar steel, tools, nails and cement. They literally cut stone from the hillsides,ย 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 transportย 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:
โWeโre constantly wowing the local carpenters with the Makitaย cordless tools โ especially the reciproโ and circular saws โ and theย impact driver. Driving a 4 inch bolt into wood harderย than oak, in a couple of seconds, always gets their attention. Iโmย helping them rebuild a dangerous bridge this summer as some smallย children fell through it recently and one didnโt survive โ and I knowย we wouldnโt be able to do it without the Makita impact driver.โ
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.
