More

So now I’ve done it. I was so proud and confident. And then as I was closing the door I couldn’t stop it and I saw the keys still in the ignition. We went to install the well. The head woman is over multiple villages and she was very grateful we were there. She asked for more wells and was told to reapply next year as this year’s wells have been assigned. Back to the truck with a string and a wire. I had left the window cracked just a bit so that was what we had to work with. Tried to grab the window crank but that would have rolled the window farther up. 45 minutes and we got the wire and string to pull the tab up. And off we went. Wilfred told me, ‘don’t worry about it. It happens to everyone.’

Cholera has killed 110 people in Malawi this go round. And the people know it. Wilfred asks as we are dedicating and teaching them about correct use of the well. There should be no buildings within 30 meters of the well, don’t wash or bath at the well, keep any open water that is close moving, and keep the animals away from the area. It is a shallow well and the water comes from the surrounding ground. 
One headman went in for a while in Chichewa but said in English, ‘There are no toilets here!’ The translation was that if you are coming to get water (especially children) then know that you have to go to the bathroom before you come. 

A day in the life

A day in the life of a Marion Medical Mission volunteer begins early. Waking, breakfast, and grabbing all your gear (backpack, android, truck) before meeting your field officer or installation supervisor. Depending on the field officer that you're working with, we either go to load the truck with pipes, pumps, and all the pieces needed for installation or the truck is already loaded and it is time to head out. A stop at the gas station, a shop to pick up lunch supplies and we're on our way! 

As we try very hard to NOT drive after dark we try to go to the farthest village first which can be quite a ways...time to see the countryside, get to know your guide/translator better, and talk through the idea of the day. The number of wells that my field officer plans to put in each day almost always sounds very high and overly optimistic but we try our best and know that that is all that we can do and that all of the villages that have been promised wells will get them even if we can't be the ones to help install. 

Along the way we pick up a few more installation supervisors and/ or builders who know better where we are going and who is getting the wells. Upon arrival at the village/well site/ place to leave the truck to hike to the well site we jump out of the truck and pull all the pieces we'll need big pipes, little pipes, pump, plunger, connectors, tools. Then to the site (sometimes 10ft away and sometimes a hike). Installation as American volunteers meet and greet all who come to the well is followed by a dedication ceremony and instruction of correct usage for maintenance. Depending on the village there is singing, dancing, gift giving and hugs before we load up in the truck and head to the next well site. 

After 4 or 8 installations we head back to our accommodations aiming to be back by 6pm (dark). Once there we have dinner, shower, make sure that all our information is backed up, them crawl under your mosquito net into bed and rest to do it again!

And we keep going

Woke up one morning and Wilfred told us the truck had a flat tire. Had someone come to change it and Wilfred said we can head out into the field if we put the flat where the spare is because it is illegal to travel without a spare. I didn’t think that was a great idea as if we got another flat out in the field we wouldn’t have a spare that was any good. The guy said it would take about 20 minutes to patch. We can wait (or do our lunch shopping in the mean time). 

Two days later, Tom and Mr Khosa, are at our hotel laughing about how good it is they showed up since we have a flat tire. Guess our spare wasn’t that great though it did last 2 days. That also being said, neither of them changed the tire. 

As we finished a dedication and we’re headdd back to the truck a man came up to me and identified himself as a headman algo a nearby village. He said that we had come the other year and installed a well there and he just wanted to say thank you again. He was very glad that we were back and installing here. He pointed at our builder and field officer and told me that those guys are good workers. Very helpful. And he did it in English. 

The police blocks haven’t gotten less frequent but we haven’t gotten stopped nearly as often. Usually we are waved through which is lovely. Of course one more officer wanted to check my reverse lights and brake lights. I’ll admit to not having checked and so was relieved that we passed and we’re able to continue on to our wells. 

One village told me, ‘We stopped believing you were coming. We got calls on 2 days saying you would be coming and yet you didn’t make it. But now today, the third time. It has become a reality’. That is hard for me to hear and yet their thanksgiving is real. We call up all the villages we hope to make it to in the day but often distances are farther, installations are trickier, the sun heads down too soon and we miss some villages. It has been nice this year to still be in the same area for the duration and I have gotten to those villages that really have been waiting (they are all waiting…)

So much joy

We were met at the ‘road’ at every village. (Bigger track if not a dirt road). The people were already singing and dancing-all of them, men, women and children. They followed the truck to where we parked and then continued singing and dancing to the well. What joy!

The headman commented, ‘You have helped us today when many other NGOs and even the government have not. I wish you would run for office because if you did we would vote for you!’

Another comment, ‘Thank God for giving you the resources to help us, thank God for  entering your mind to come here.’ And ‘from the beginning of the world, there has never been such a thing in this village. Now we have safe water to drink.’

Blessings

At the end of the dedication we give time for someone to speak. Usual sentiment is thank you, thank God, thank those in America who sent you and sent funds for the well. One headman apologized for not having time to kill a goat for us. He said we should come back sometime and we would have the goat. 

At so many wells the women sing. They are encouraged by all (men, other women, the workers). Some songs I hear often and can ‘sing along’ others I try to clap but the beat is often off for me…most are call and response or lined out (easier to repeat)

🎶’The well is coming today, today the well is coming’ 🎶 can change to ‘marioni is coming today, today Marion I is coming’ 🎶 to ‘today the has arrived, the well has arrived today’ 🎵one song was a prayer for God to grant the people wisdom and peace amongst people 🎵

🎶Thank you 🎶 repeated (zikomo and totrakoza)

🎵Welcome visitor. You are most welcome, how are you, how was you night (or morning)🎵

And then there are the ones I don’t know or recognize. 

One day I had to grandmothers at 2 different villages sing to me their thanks. One was after the installation and we were back at the truck getting ready to leave. I was looking at her from the drivers side through the passenger window. She had such a big smile and looked right at me. 

The second was as we arrived. It was a song I didn’t know and possibly she made it up right then but I could tell it was coming from the bottom of her heart. She sang of the joy in her heart and that it was pouring out her hands. May God bless and keep me as we continued to share Gods love.  

I was brought to tears of joy and if I could have filmed them I feel sure you all would have felt the same love. 

Aack!

Moyo ndi wozuza 

(Seen painted on a building. Literally, life is troubles. Meaning: life is full of challenges)

The first two days we were stopped by the police 4 times. (We saw police on the roads 9 times) We got a ticket each day. The first was because the pipes were sticking off the back of the truck without a warning device (flag). The next day they asked to see our fire extinguisher and it turns out we didn’t have one. (So that one I understood). Since then (going into week three) we have been stopped twice more. The first asked me for a fire extinguisher, had it! And then my drivers license, had that too. Betty said he looked disappointed but let us go. 

The last time was a ‘fun’ interaction. ‘What are you doing?’ Putting wells in villages. ‘My village doesn’t have a well.’ We can’t put wells in when we’re stuck at police blocks. ‘I’m just doing my job to keep the roads safe.’ Thank you. And we got to go. There were smiles and chuckles. Most of this week we have gotten waved through which makes us think someone has told them to let us through. I don’t mind!

Malawi is having fuel shortages but so far we’ve been able to keep our truck well fuelled when we’re in a bigger area. There are also lots of power cuts everyday. With no schedule that I’ve been able to figure out. But then we were warned and the power does come on for a bit so I can charge what needs to be charged.  

We are told to not drive at night. And we try not to. But of course there are days we don’t quite get back in time. It gets dark at 6. And the roads haven’t gotten better. After our first night too late we said no. Can’t do it. And we haven’t. It’s been much better!

One well didn’t have enough water in it. We aren’t at the end of dry season yet and the well couldn’t pass the 10 bucket test.  The builder was instructed to come the next day to take the top off and go down to dig it deeper. That is so hard to leave. 

After all that, things are mostly working. We’re putting in wells, dancing and singing, hiking and seeing some beautiful countryside and people. 

Devotion

 Marion Medical Mission puts together a devotional booklet each year with daily reflections from Americans and Africans for the days of well building and installation. I wrote the one for October 1 (not that I knew that before the booklet came out):

WATCHING AND WAITING     Jessi Stitt Volunteer, North Carolina   Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12   It was my first year as a Marion Medical Mission volunteer. Most of our villages were quite spread out. We were the Team 2 clean-up crew – the outlying villages. We could easily have to drive two hours to get to the first well and then an hour plus to the following villages. But my partner and I both love driving so that wasn’t a problem. But this day, we had two villages very close to each other. In fact, we stopped in one to drop off the pipes and pump and then continued on to the other as our builder knew he could get back here and get started installing while we were dedicating the first well and celebrating with the people. This would ‘speed’ our progress for the day.   We dedicated the first well, celebrated and received offerings of thanks (eggs, ground nuts, tomatoes) and headed back to the village we had passed through. When I stopped the truck and opened the door, I was greeted by an agogo (grandmother). She took my hand and did not release it as we walked to the well site. She talked to me the entire way, waving her free hand around to the land and the people. While I don’t really know what she said, I understood. This was her home, her family, and the glistening in her eyes and the smile on her face said so much.   Agogo didn’t release my hand until she saw the clean water come out of the well. She let out an ululation (high pitched warble) and bounced with joy. Our Field Officer then told me that she had been telling me that when she saw the truck come through the village and not stop, she was devastated. She had seen trucks passing on other days and had begun to lose hope that our promise would be kept. And then we had come but passed right through. When we returned she wasn’t going to let me go until that water came to be. Her dreams came true. Her family would be healthy, her village would no longer get sick. Water is life and God is good. Application Questions: What are you hoping for? How can you help make it happen? Prayer: Dear God, thank You for your promises to us. To always love us and to send us those who can help. Help us as we help others and as we share Your love to all those around us, near and far. Remind us that we are not forgotten, we are loved, and we are called. Amen Looking for Easy Ways to Help? When you follow us on social media, and 'like,' comment or share our posts, it increases our exposure & helps new supporters find us! Writing a quick, 5-star review on Google or recommending us on Facebook is also a great way to share our mission! If a daily devotion really speaks to you, please share it on social media. All of these are great ways to support MMM! Visit our website FOLLOW US

Marion Medical Mission | 1412 Shawnee Dr, Marion, IL 62959 Unsubscribe jessi.stitt@gmail.com Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by info@mmmwater.org powered by Try email marketing for free today!