Fuel here is nationalized. So there is no looking for the cheapest station. All sell for the same price.
2734 MK per liter
3.785 liters per gallon
10348 MK per gallon
$5.42 per gallon
We filled up our double cab truck last week:
We filled our single cab (it has two tanks) one was empty the other was about half full. We heard that petrol was missing from the stations and that usually puts a run on all the fuel
A good thing for me is the drinks are much cheaper. A kuche kuche beer is 1400 MK at my current hotel ($.73)
And yesterday we found a hole on the side of the road. Oops! 4wd and some big rocks and a little digging got us back on the road…no one was hurt and the truck seems pretty ok too!
When we come over we bring dollars. The bills have to be pretty clean, after 2006 (harder to counterfeit), no tears or writing.
During training we are given a float. Petty cash for Marion expenses. We get a receipt book as some places don’t have them and Moses (accountant) requires all the money to be accounted for. We also get a paper where we record our transactions along with the total he gave us at the beginning and then what we are giving him back at the end. He estimates what we’ll need but that’s hard to do as so much changes from year to year. Team 1 he gave us 2,000,000 MK! Team 2 got 1,500,000MK ($785). $1=1910MK
After the training, the bank is open. Moses changes our personal money into Malawian Kwacha (if we’re staying in Malawi). At the end of the team he’ll change it back at the same rate or you can donate it or use it to pay your bill. He doesn’t care about receipts for this (it’s not his).
Marion expenses are things such as diesel fuel for the trucks, lunch and waters for the team, repairs or replacements for tools and truck (repairing flats, re welding pipe racks, more solvent cement (glue for PVC pipes), matches, etc.)
I’ve gotten lucky this year. My partner has taken care of the shopping MMM expenses and we’ll use her money until she runs out. Team 1 I returned the whole thing back to Moses. (So much easier for me)
Happy Sunday! I’m relaxing at the lake
Today was a day! We are staying in Chintheche which is at the lake and we started with a 2+ hour drive up into the mountains. Parked the car and took the parts for 3 wells with us. Jan stayed at the truck and we started walking. Down, across, over a bridge and then across, up, across, down and it kept going. Over an hour later we made it to the first well.
“Thank you so much for this facility. We were drinking from the stream and now we are safe. Our stomachs won’t hurt. Please tell those in America we are so happy.”
From the house we found it was straight down to the well. If you are familiar with Montreat I’d say the Rainbow Mountain hike from the gate. And as I’m trying to walk down a not yet well established path all I can think is they’ll be doing this with a bucket of water on their head!! After the installation it was back up and to the next well…and the next. 3.5+ hours later…
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, in God’s word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5
The faith that we find in these villages is not without doubt, but it is couched in hope. Hope for clean water, hope for promises kept, hope for health, hope in God.
Words from some village leaders:
• We knew we wanted a well and so we made bricks in the hopes that help would come.
• We waited all day yesterday - until dark. But we knew you would be coming.
• We have been waiting and doubting that this would truly happen, but now it is here.
My understanding is that a village wanting a well has many steps to get one. They form a committee and go to the local government who can tell them the organizations that work in their area. If MMM is picked, they must provide the sand, bricks, gravel, and labor. There is a yearly maintenance fee and there will be a trained maintenance person in the area. They meet with an MMM worker and pick an appropriate place for the well.
In between each of these steps there is lots of waiting, time for doubt to creep in. Time to remember other foreign help that was offered but never actualized.
And then the season comes. Building season is a frenzy. The top slab is made, and the well is dug until there is at least 6 feet of water in the hole. Bricks and clay surround it and the cement top slab is placed.
Application Question: We all wait in hope. What are you waiting for? Praying for? Remember that God’s time isn’t our time and hold on to your hope even if you are doubting.
Prayer: O Creator, thank you for the hope that you have instilled in each of us. Help us to hold on to hope even when we doubt, even when we think it has been too long. Remind us that you love us and want the best for us. Amen
After the dedication and before the picture a demonstration on using the well correctly is done by the Field Officer, Installation Supervisor, or me.
Correct pumping is two handed with one foot in either side of the pump facing the drain /spout/bucket. I start correctly then move a foot to the edge away from the pump. It is much harder.
You pull the handle up to about your belly button to pump. Not super high, and not low enough to hit the top of the pump (giving you a good beat but not good for the pump). I demo both those and then dance around, looking from side to side, patting my baby on my back, waving at a friend and then turn around to sit on the handle…tsk tsk. Every one laughs at the azungu doing it wrong.
Then to the bucket where I pretend to shower and wash my clothes, but as this is a shallow well neither should be done close to the well (bore holes are drilled and very deep and are ok to wash near)
You have to take your full bucket away and picking it up to put it in your head I find needs a mid high place…the concrete cap is good, the plastic spout is not!
It also brings lots of laughter when I put a bucket on my head and wave goodbye and start to walk away. I then pretend to trip and act like I’m going to spill the bucket but usually I don’t really.
