It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. Sherry has been so good about updating and communicating (internet access and electricity permitting!) while I’ve had my nose to the ground and hands on the ropes (working at digging our first well). Yesterday we completed the Global Care well, after several weeks of wondering if there was actually going to be water in this well. I wrote a fair amount about it in a previous post, so I won’t go into lots of detail here. The bottom line is that it produces about 15 liters/minute. I had hoped for a greater quantity of water, but as far as we can tell, we’re producing about the same amount of water as the local community borehole, which cost significantly more than ours . . .
I’ve learned so much already and need to continue learning how to drill wells here in northern Uganda; I need to know more about the geology, the processes and what my available resources are. I’m also learning some of the cultural modes of operation among the Teso people. I’m trying to uncover what might be offensive, while also discovering appropriate ways to compliment and encourage the guys working with me to bring water to their kinsmen.
Tomorrow I’m heading to a remote village in another district, about 2 hours away from the Soroti compound, where we’ll hopefully find the site for our next well, so I’ll be meeting with local government and tribal leaders. This new well in will be the second in a series of about 10 wells that are provided for by a grant received by Global Care. I’m hoping that our process of hand-drilling will enable us to extend the available funds so we can provide more than 10 wells! We’ll see. This next well will be a good test, as we’ll have to anticipate all the possible problems, bring all the necessary tools and equipment and will likely stay on-site until the well is complete. At 2 hours away, we won’t be running to the hardware store for a piece we might have forgotten!
Click here to see several new photos of the Global Care well. We’ve named it the Joshua 1:8 well, after a song composed by one of our workers, using that particular verse for the lyrics.