first day

Tuesday was our first day in the field...and I do mean in the field. Jan and I didn't have far to go (technically) since we would be based in Mponela but as it turned out we went about 150km. Our Field Officer, Wilfred, directs is on all the little dirt roads and paths we take. About 15 minutes on our first road we realize that we've lost a strap and the pipes are waving around, all because our back pipe rack had bent and was trying to fall off the truck.

So we had to back track to the nearest trading center village to find a welder. Once that was done we decided to go a different direction to a different set of villages (as though I had any idea where the difference was). Up into the hills of Dowa area on tracks that would not be passable in the rainy season. On the way in we came to a creek bed that was scary as the two sides formed a v (steep tho not quite the letter) and on the way out was impassable as the upward slope was wet and there was no traction. Took the long way out.

But that is skipping most of the day! We installed 4 wells at 4 different villages. When we arrive in a village we unload the parts needed for the well: pipes-big and small, tool bag and wrenches, metal t handle, etc. While we greet the people our Field Officer gathers information about how many people will use the well and helps the installer to install. We type info into the android about the construction and what we see around the well (buildings, other water sources). Then we dedicate. Open with a prayer led Ny one of the villagers, then explain that Christians in the US donated money to help their brothers and sisters in Africa to get clean, safe water. We go over the maintenance plan and make sure they know who to contact should something go wrong. Then there is a demo on correct usage: not yanking on the handle, not washing clothes or bodies at the well, keeping the area clean, etc. Often someone (headman or woman) in the village then speaks and says thank you. They want us to take their thanks back to the US and those who helped to make this possible. They can hardly believe that they now have clean water right near the village. And they ask that we continue to help other villages. Then we take a picture with the well and the villagers. It is lots of fun. Often they give us gifts as well: chickens, maize, peanuts, bananas, and so much more that we then send home with the guys who help us.

When we got back that night I was exhausted (not having slept much the night before-wide awake from midnight to 430 when I made myself lie down) but I've slept well ever since!