Tony Zandl has sacrificed his life in Chilliwack to give life to others living in third-world countries.

Twelve months, 52 weeks, 364 days of the year Zandl restores and rebuilds water drilling rigs for charitable aid organizations wanting to put them in areas of need. He also trains crews, all local people, on how to use the rigs in their respective villages.

He can't imagine doing anything else.

Eight years ago, Zandl met a young man from Sudan who told him about the needs of his people, about how so many of his friends and family had died from lack of nutrition or were near death – mostly because they don't have access to clean water.

"I felt very uncomfortable living my regular life after hearing that," said Zandl, a former Chilliwack contractor.

"I wanted to help."

On his first trip to Sudan, in 2000, Zandl bought a house in a small village, just outside of the country's capital, which he converted into an orphanage.

That trip almost became his last trip.

Halfway through the trip, Zandl was taken down "a very bad road," by a cab driver designated to him by the government.

"I knew, if I didn't get out of there right away, it would be the end of my life," he said, not wanting to go into further detail.

"When I got out of there, I swore up and down I wouldn't go back."

But when an aid organization, based in Langley, contacted Zandl, a mechanic by trade, and asked if he'd be willing to set up a water rig in Benin, Africa, Zandl agreed, but only for the one time.

That was seven years ago.

"I go every four to six months now," he said.

"My hearts cry is making sure these children don't die anymore. A child dies every 20 seconds just from water-born diseases – I've seen that with my own eyes."

Zandl has set up rigs for organizations drilling holes in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania. He's just finished a rig that's waiting for shipment to India.

All these places have clean water, they're just not tapping into their reserves," he said.

By drilling down just 130 to 200 feet, "the water is pristine. It's crystal clear and ice cold."

And as soon as the drill starts pounding into the ground, vibrating its deafening noise through the air, villagers, seemingly out of nowhere, come clamouring through the jungle in hordes.

"Clean water is the ultimate tool for life in Africa," said Zandl. "They know we're bringing them life."

Every time Zandl helps set up a rig, he always makes sure to revisit the villages a year later. The progress he sees, from just having clean water, is incredible.

"When we bring water to these villages, the majority of the people don't even have clothes, they have nothing, they live in sickness and poverty, the women and children are dying, their hair is blondish-red from malnutrition," said Zandl. "But a year later, their hair is black, they have rows and rows and rows of vegetables growing, they're buying clothes, medicine, cooking instruments, they're pumping water all day."

They're healthy.

krobinson@theprogress.com