PUMP IT!

I have seen many stages of a well being built. The digging, stopping due to flat hard rock, digging (by hand) again, setting up the tripod at the top with a pully to life the dirt out of the hole, dropping the cement rings to keep the walls of the well from collapsing and I have seen a final product-a nice gated, functioning well.  The stage I have missed was that very first pump -when the pump head has been put on along with the handle - one of our technicians starts pumping up and down and beautiful, clear, water starts coming out of the pump.  Well that changed on Monday...and it was AWESOME!

Wasanga village clinic is the proud new owner of a fully functioning hand pump.  In early Novemeber our well constructrution team started digging near the clinic.  They got about 50 feet and hit rock so hard that they had to close the hole and find a new location.  These guys dig by hand, pick and shovel...it's not easy!!!

Me in the well hole last November-the workers put the little bucket down fill it full of dirt then a team of guys pulls it back up-this fisrt well had to be left due to hitting rock.

Now jump forward to Monday- Morris our tough guy well builder, is putting the hand pump head on the new well hole-and getting ready to pump- a lady sees what he is doing and gets her bucket-she will be the first one to get the fresh water out of this well!

The first bucket of water from this pump!

Being the water geek that I am-I once again was a little emotional (it's been a long week ok!) as I watched this lady take her clean water back to her house.  What was even better was knowing that this well would be used for the nearby clinic-it would make a huge difference for them!  I would now like to thank Emily Yost-she was our former health coordinator who oversaw this project-she finished with SP in January and we miss her! Em-you would have been so proud!

Now I have seen all the stages of a well being built-but this part, watching the first pump and the clean water flow into a ladies bucket-this part, was the best...

Training-well...training in the villages and on the dirt roads of Foya has been an adventure!!! I will post more about this in the future as I am heading back up to Foya on Thursday.  Let's just say the cool weather was a welcomed change-seeing the snake trail on the road-not so welcoming...

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