January 4, 2008

My mornings always begin with a cup of tea and BBC world news/ “Wake up Africa”, in my attempt to stay connected with the real world. Though this morning I was absolutely shocked by two things. One was being the Iowan caucuses and the other having to do with the Beatles. Who knew Obama would stomp out Hillary so soon? I’m sure she’s in quite the need for retail therapy. More importantly it seems that the Beatles music is up for auction and is soon to be used for television commercials and God knows what else. Immediately I was saddened and disturbed by this. Here’s to hoping someone with enough sense will put a stop to this. My miniature rant has nothing to do with Africa, but I figure if people are going to read this I can discuss random and obsolete topics from my work here. It’s just disappointing to know music so pure is on its was to sell diapers.

Ok, back to Africa.

One of the major projects I have started working on is the Water Committee. Kate R., the volunteer I replaced found that water was a large problem and burden here. She started working on the project assisting the committee and receiving funding from an Dutch NGO, “Holland Helps Worldwide”. The problem here was that women and children had to fetch water that was only available down a steep and dangerous hill. It was especially unsafe in the rainy season when paths become slippery. Basically, the goal was to rehabilitate an old tank system that was put in place years ago and to get water closer to village. Fast forward to this week: a new pump has been installed which pumped water into 2 store tanks, 2 “stand taps” have been built in central/safe/close areas in village, and the water is flowing! The stand taps are areas where folks can fill up their buckets and containers. The 2 store tanks had been empty for 10 years, which says a lot about this accomplishment.

This is a wonderful and early example of projects in Africa; they need a lot of time and patience. Kate R. began working on this project early in her service and its unfortunate she wasn’t able to see it, just yet...though there are talks of a return trip of the 1st Kate! My major role now will be to assist with the management of the project. Since the pump will acquire electric bills each month, our next task is getting those paid for…i.e rallying the village to pay up. This will be done through word of mouth, talks with the fons (traditional head honchos in village), announcements at churches this Sunday, etc. We are in the midst of planning a “christening” ceremony near Easter as well. Seeing this project going through gives me hope that projects CAN be successful here, even though at times it may be slow going. Also, seeing the excitement and happiness from people is pretty amazing.

Notable event of this week:
My Monday and Thursday evenings are spent dining with the Sisters at the convent. This week the Provincial Sister for the Northwest came through for dinner. To welcome her, we presented her with special foods. I was given strict orders to dance and “tantalize” the Sister with the cake. Done and done. While the sisters sang, drummed, and clapped I danced around the dining hall...while holding a big cake. Yes, this is my life.