Each village was interested to understand why we were there and quick to point out a prime location for the borehole they so obviously wanted! We made no promises of any help, but asked questions about what they currently do to get water, what health issues they experience, how big the communities are, so as to be able to decide where we can best help if we do come back to the area. I also logged the GPS coordinates and took some photos.
In our last village we were brought a huge chunk of boiled pork (50% of which was skin and fat!) which was promptly cut into small pieces for us to eat before starting the long walk home.
The river (which we had to wade across) was particularly beautiful.
On our return to Gasmalah we were not permitted to leave for home without eating something.
On Thursday I joined SIM’s Community Health Worker training school and spent an hour with the 10 students telling them about the water project and the recent project completed in Abwong. I think they found it interesting and it was good to be able to add to some of what they had been learning in their lessons on water and sanitation.
The next day they joined me to try and make a community sand filter using an old diesel barrel. We had a fun afternoon, though it was surprisingly time consuming to wash the gravel and sand! It was a learning experience for all of us, and definitely something that could be applied in communities in future.
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