The homestretch
Frances Hoffman
The team is on the homestretch with only 3 days of work left including today, pressing to complete. We worked rather efficiently, as the 6 doors are totally complete and the netball field has been carefully measured and marked with a hoe, the walls are all painted and baseboards being done, the blackboard paint has been applied and all the windows are complete, murals are finished, and teachers desks have been varnished in two coats with sanding in between. It was a full day of work.
A group of us went to the neighbouring community earlier in the morning to learn about the community’s water wells and health and sanitation. It was surprising for a number of reasons, one being that the community has yet to connect keeping water clean and preventing illness, or even performing the death defying act of washing your hands after going to the washroom. The committee members meet once a week to educate the community members on the value and benefits of clean water. They visit every house in the village, as well, to ensure that the village members adhere to their suggestions (such as covering the water when they carry it home, using the chlorine they provide for drinking water, and having hand washing stations outside the latrinesThe well requires quarterly visits, whereby soft parts ie valves and soft parts are replaced. It is approximately $25 dollars a year (equivalent to a month’s salary for a labourer in Africa) to maintain.
Once every three months someone from the government Ministry of Water does 3 tests: ph test, water yield, and bacteria count. These tests determine whether the well is functioning properly or not. ). They also collect money to maintain the pump and well (there are two water wells for the village of 493 people, 107 house holds and 93 latrines). Before creating a well, one must have a certain amount to open a bank account dedicated to maintenance of the well for future fixes.
We are now at Paul and Helen’s house enjoying Roast Beef dinner with a couple glasses of wine and some wonderful company.