A Day of Blessings

11-12-15

Working on the well

We got going just after 8am this morning. We were going to repair some wells today, and we went to the Diocese to pick up Peter and Andrew. The gate was locked and a bunch of people were waiting outside. We sat in the car thinking that someone was waiting for a key, when finally Bo got out to see what was the deal. Apparently Chavalla had told the guard to lock the gate at 8am because too many people were arriving to work late. Haha! We met up with Peter and Andrew shortly after and were on our way out of town.

We stopped in a village called Kiponzelo (or Kiponzero – their l's and r's are interchangeable). We went into a building where introductions were made all around. One man thanked us for coming and for providing safe and clean water, then he proceeded to tell us that out of the seven wells they had, three were operational.

We went to one of the wells and spent a couple of hours there. We all stood around watching the men work for a while, then I had to get out of the sun. It's hot, but cloudy with a wonderful breeze in the shade.

Washing clothes

There are a few mama's here washing clothes. These women work so hard! Scrub, scrub, scrub, then wring and rinse and wring, then lay the clothes on the ground or on a bush to dry in the sun. They will iron the clothes later to get rid of the fleas or whatever.

Juli with the children

Julie, Michelle, and I decided to take a walk around the village to kill some time. We walked a ways then came upon a school. A few of the children came to the road to say, “hi.” Suddenly, there were dozens of them! They followed us all the way back, skipping and laughing. We took a few pictures with our phones and the children all wanted to see the them. 

We had some rubber band bracelets that we gave out and we were like celebrities. Unfortunately, children all over are alike: some were greedy and wanted several. They kept getting in line before other children got some so we think a few may have gotten missed. We can only hope they share, otherwise it seems kind of mean to introduce something they never knew they wanted, only to have some miss out, especially when we surely had enough for all.

After that well, we went to another one.  Each well had unique problems, and it was encouraging to see that the townspeople were there to help fix them and to learn what to do in the future.  This is the goal:  not only to provide wells for the villages, but to have those wells be accepted and cared for by that village.  St Paul Partners can help teach the people how to care for and fix the wells, but they can't be depended upon to fix every well that breaks down.  SPP has 168 wells to oversee.  It is very important for each community to care for its own.

All in all, we spent about four or five hours out in the village, including eating lunch with the workers in the village after completion of the second well.  The remainder of the afternoon was for rest.

In the evening as we all were doing our devotion for the day, each one of us were struck by the blessings of the day.  Whether it be personal highs and gratitude for the gifts of others, witnessing God's love through people and deeds, or watching communities take ownership of their own, there were many great things that happened this day.