Aside from some travel weariness and jet lag we're back home safe and sound. It really is a long, long way from here to Africa...more or less 48 hours on the road to complete the journey one way. But, all of our flights were smooth and we made all of our connections easily, thanks to Marcus who looked after all of our travel arrangements. We stayed healthy for the most part in spite of all the potential for weird ailments including malaria, so we're thankful for that.
The well drilling is just beginning. The drill rig is in place and there is now an expert driller available to the Iris crew as they learn the ins and outs of drilling for water in Mozambique. This expert has volunteered his time and some of his manpower to help, so we're also very thankful for his generosity. Money, as always, is the big challenge now. The crew have already used almost $1000. in diesel fuel drilling the first few test holes. They have no money left now to purchase good quality casing, piping, pumps, fuel, and expense materials in order to continue drilling actual wells. I think this is where we, as wealthy North Americans, can help. This is a real opportunity for us to get involved in a real project, helping real people. This isn't some TV show pleading for money for some arbitrary project that most of us can't really connect with. The Iris team are hoping to meet the basic needs of thousands of people who don't even have clean water to drink. We, in North America, take this all for granted, seldom giving it a second thought unless we lose our water supply for a few hours once in a blue moon. Most of the world doesn't live in the luxury we do and that is not fair. It would take so little from each of us to make such a huge difference in Mozambique. We have this opportunity to channel resources directly into well drilling, even specific wells, without losing half of it as it filters through some huge multinational organization. You will definitely be hearing more from me on this subject!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
We're back to Civilization
We're back in Johannesburg, having completed our stint in Pemba. It was 35 deg and very sticky in Pemba when we left but 3 hours later when we landed in Joburg it's 17 deg and raining! We're all freezing after getting used to the intense heat over the last 2 1/2 weeks.
A strange thing happened over the last two weeks. We lived in dust and dirt, constant power and water outages, banditos, and oppressive heat but we don't want to leave. There is something about this place that we have fallen in love with. Maybe it's the children, or maybe it's the Mozambicans in general, but none of us is happy to be leaving. Weird.
The third test well on the base is being drilled as I write this. No water has been found yet but it is looking good this time. The only obstacle now is money and materials to continue drilling. It is difficult to get good pipe for casing, hard to find quality pumps, and even good gravel and cement are hard to come by and it's all very expensive...but the need for a reliable supply of fresh water is great in so many place here. I want now, more than ever, to help make these wells happen for these very gracious and appreciative people.
The gazebo at Noviana is complete, thanks to you guys. I have lots of pictures. We had to say goodbye yesterday to our new friends in that village. The kids were told that we were leaving and they clung to us like velcro. It was really hard to hold back the tears and put on a brave face in front of them. My two 'adopted' favourites were Costigo and Angelo from Noviana. These kids are sure easy to love. They're like little angels with tattered clothes. We'll really miss them.
We'll probably be offline now for the next few days as we take the opportunity to visit Kruger National Park here in South Africa, then begin the trip home on Thursday. We're all healthy and ready to enjoy some R&R!
A strange thing happened over the last two weeks. We lived in dust and dirt, constant power and water outages, banditos, and oppressive heat but we don't want to leave. There is something about this place that we have fallen in love with. Maybe it's the children, or maybe it's the Mozambicans in general, but none of us is happy to be leaving. Weird.
The third test well on the base is being drilled as I write this. No water has been found yet but it is looking good this time. The only obstacle now is money and materials to continue drilling. It is difficult to get good pipe for casing, hard to find quality pumps, and even good gravel and cement are hard to come by and it's all very expensive...but the need for a reliable supply of fresh water is great in so many place here. I want now, more than ever, to help make these wells happen for these very gracious and appreciative people.
The gazebo at Noviana is complete, thanks to you guys. I have lots of pictures. We had to say goodbye yesterday to our new friends in that village. The kids were told that we were leaving and they clung to us like velcro. It was really hard to hold back the tears and put on a brave face in front of them. My two 'adopted' favourites were Costigo and Angelo from Noviana. These kids are sure easy to love. They're like little angels with tattered clothes. We'll really miss them.
We'll probably be offline now for the next few days as we take the opportunity to visit Kruger National Park here in South Africa, then begin the trip home on Thursday. We're all healthy and ready to enjoy some R&R!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Lots of Activity
There are a lot of things happening. Last week there were major problems with the well drilling. The wells were caving in as they were being drilled. Well, as it turned out, the expert driller they thought they had wasn't such an expert after all but through a series of incredible events a real expert came along. He is an Israeli man that lives within walking distance of the base. When the Iris guys contacted him he came over and very generously offered his time and expertise to get everything moving. He has recommended equipment and supplies that we need and given expert advice on how to deal with the sticky sand situation. He has even offered to send a couple of his guys over to help drill the first well once we have all the gear we need so everyone is really excited and anxious to get going again.
The gazebo at Noviana is almost complete. They will be pouring a cement floor this week. The village people are SO appreciative...this is such a major improvement for them. They offer to feed us something whenever we show up there. Of course, they have no idea how scary that is for us but we don't want to seem un-appreciative of their hospitality so we eat. It hasn't killed us yet, or even made us sick for that matter, so I guess it's OK. We told Don they were feeding us and he got a bit of a shocked look on his face. He said you're not drinking the water are you? We assured him that we're drawing the line there.
I took a couple of little guys on a outing on Saturday. One of them was an orphan boy from the base named Adriano and the other was a village boy named Johnny. Adriano asked me if we could have lunch together and I said 'sure'. I assumed he meant at the base kitchen but it turned out he wanted to go the the Dolphin which is one of the more famous little cafes along the beach. I told him we could go to the Dolphin and asked him what he wanted to eat there. He said either 'cheeken' or 'umboorger', so we all had 'cheeken'. The boys cleaned their plates completely leaving only a very small pile of completely picked off chicken bones on one side. I was embarassed to leave a not so clean rack and my 'cholera' salad but they helped me clean that up too. Then we went out for a swim in the hot water which was fun but I had to constantly watch our belongings laying on the beach because banditos make off with that stuff in a flash if you're not nearby. I bought them a chocolate bar from a vendor on the beach as we walked home. Adriano thanked me several times and they went on their way.
Don and Elizabeth took us to a secluded, very beautiful beach yesterday. You can find pictures of it on the internet if you Google 'il Pirate Mozambique'. Breathtaking place, again with hot water to swim in. The water is so warm that you have to get out to cool off even though the air temp is well into the thirties. We found lots of cool treasures along the beach that we're bringing home.
It's the beginning of our last week here. I'm hoping that I can help the guys move the well drilling ahead a little further. It would be very exciting to get some water out of a well before I leave. We have a tentative schedule to go to Ibo Island on Thursday to look at a potential site for a new village. We would be traveling in a 5 passenger Cessna for the 30 minute trip. Quite an adventure.
Gotta sign off, the internet here is $12 US per hour and it's not even that fast.
The gazebo at Noviana is almost complete. They will be pouring a cement floor this week. The village people are SO appreciative...this is such a major improvement for them. They offer to feed us something whenever we show up there. Of course, they have no idea how scary that is for us but we don't want to seem un-appreciative of their hospitality so we eat. It hasn't killed us yet, or even made us sick for that matter, so I guess it's OK. We told Don they were feeding us and he got a bit of a shocked look on his face. He said you're not drinking the water are you? We assured him that we're drawing the line there.
I took a couple of little guys on a outing on Saturday. One of them was an orphan boy from the base named Adriano and the other was a village boy named Johnny. Adriano asked me if we could have lunch together and I said 'sure'. I assumed he meant at the base kitchen but it turned out he wanted to go the the Dolphin which is one of the more famous little cafes along the beach. I told him we could go to the Dolphin and asked him what he wanted to eat there. He said either 'cheeken' or 'umboorger', so we all had 'cheeken'. The boys cleaned their plates completely leaving only a very small pile of completely picked off chicken bones on one side. I was embarassed to leave a not so clean rack and my 'cholera' salad but they helped me clean that up too. Then we went out for a swim in the hot water which was fun but I had to constantly watch our belongings laying on the beach because banditos make off with that stuff in a flash if you're not nearby. I bought them a chocolate bar from a vendor on the beach as we walked home. Adriano thanked me several times and they went on their way.
Don and Elizabeth took us to a secluded, very beautiful beach yesterday. You can find pictures of it on the internet if you Google 'il Pirate Mozambique'. Breathtaking place, again with hot water to swim in. The water is so warm that you have to get out to cool off even though the air temp is well into the thirties. We found lots of cool treasures along the beach that we're bringing home.
It's the beginning of our last week here. I'm hoping that I can help the guys move the well drilling ahead a little further. It would be very exciting to get some water out of a well before I leave. We have a tentative schedule to go to Ibo Island on Thursday to look at a potential site for a new village. We would be traveling in a 5 passenger Cessna for the 30 minute trip. Quite an adventure.
Gotta sign off, the internet here is $12 US per hour and it's not even that fast.
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