After just two days of drilling, a Bermudian struck gold in Africa.

Eugene Carmichael helped fund a drilling project looking for an underground water source near a remote village in Cameroon.

He said: "We raised $15,000 and hired a Chinese engineering firm that was in the area. They started drilling (last) Monday and yesterday I got news that we found a large water lens about 60 meters (192 feet) below the surface.

"This will provide them with clean water year round, which is amazing because water is the stuff of life."

Mr. Carmichael is part of a small but successful charity, the Malima Support Group, which has set about changing the lives of 2,000 villagers in Gouria.

The village is in the north of Cameroon and takes two and a half days and four different means of transport to get to from the capital, Yaounde.

He said the group anticipated the drilling to take far longer than it did, and now believe that they have come across a lens which should help the villagers for decades to come.

"During the rainy season everything is fine and people have water. The problem has always been conserving the water to last through the dry season," Mr. Carmichael said.

"The villagers would have to walk for miles and miles to come across a source of water and even then it was not of good quality — it is what you and I would throw out after we have washed the dishes.

"Getting them a source of clean water was very important. The lens that was discovered this week is believed to be large enough to sustain the villagers and people from nearby."

The drilling is but one of many projects the group has undertaken in Gouria.

Using the 'build it and they will come' mantra they constructed a school for the village and convinced the government to provide the teachers for the school. Two hundred students now attend it.

They also set about vaccinating children, opened a library, brought electricity to the village and provided them with a 4x4 vehicle, so they can transport people in medical emergencies.

Remarkably the group is made up of only eight people.

It was started by educator Judith Burnett, from Bristol, England. She came across the village while travelling and teaching in the area.

Mr. Carmichael was inspired to join the adventure after talking with Ms Burnett, who was his son Nathaniel's teacher. The Malima Support Group is made up of educators, an IT specialist and a writer.

Mr. Carmichael visited the village in 2004 to see how construction of the school was coming along and hopes to return soon to see the progress.

He said the discovery of water was remarkable and put him in the best of spirits: "The knock-on effect of this development is so awesome that it is hard to envision all at once," he said.

"We can expect better health, better year-round nutrition through a more balanced diet, more plentiful food supply through the ability to grow more varied crops and ultimately a longer life expectancy."

The next step for the charity is to raise funds for piping so people can have running water. The group is also interested in irrigating crops so the villagers can grow a variety of vegetables.

For more information on the village and group you can visit http://www.malima-project.org/home.htm or Mr. Carmichael's blog http://www.malima-eugene.blogspot.com.

Mr. Carmichael will be in Bermuda till the second week of May.

He is on-Island to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Bermuda's End to End, which he was a large part of when he lived on the Island.

For more information or to donate to charity you can contact him at eugene.spain@gmail.com