republic of Ghana.

Led by Bermuda fireman Mr. Mark Hitchcock, the group installed a much-needed water supply system for the Maranatha Bible College near Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Before the water system existed, residents were having to walk a quarter of a mile uphill to get water out of a well using an old-fashioned hand-pump. And even then, the water was orange from its high iron oxide content.

"In my opinion, the residents must have had galvanised stomachs,'' Mr.

Hitchcock told Hamilton Rotarians at their weekly luncheon yesterday.

Despite the sweltering heat and a worksite pestered by mosquitoes, snakes and scorpions, the Bermudians managed to complete their task in just two weeks.

Mr. Hitchcock said the group decided to go to Ghana after being "challenged'' by a visiting representative of the Sudan Interior Mission, which runs the Maranatha Bible College.

The representative was speaking at the Evangelical Church in Paget, of which most of the group are members.

The group, including a man in his 70s who offered to be the chef, left last year on a 30-hour journey which would take them to the Maranatha Bible College.

"By the time we got there, you can well imagine we were looking forward to a bath of some sort and rest,'' Mr. Hitchcock said.

Instead, they found themselves traipsing up a hill to fill plastic barrels with the rust-coloured water.

Work had begun on putting in the water system in 1985, but because of a lack of budgeting on the Ghanaians' part, the money ran out and the project came to a "grinding halt'', Mr. Hitchcock said.

It was then that the Bermudians came to their rescue, completing the water system despite numerous obstacles.

The men plastered the inside of a 30,000-gallon, six-foot deep round tank.

They laid in excess of 1,000 feet of pipe, connected a pump to the well and constructed a building to house all the various valves.

We worked six days a week until dark and then went out to spread the word of God, Mr. Hitchcock said.

Noting "most men don't consider it macho to be interested in spiritual things'', Mr. Hitchcock said the group was "overjoyed'' to find out how many men were interested in God in Accra.

He recalled how it had not always been possible for all eight members of the group to work on the project at the same time due to a series of mishaps.

He said one member was "inoperative'' for a day after being bitten by an insect, another suffered from heat stroke while plastering the huge tank and others complained of stomach bugs from the water and food.