The mono-pumps were finished a long time ago but as life is... this is definitely an on going project. At the moment we have 5 broken pumps again and I can only be frustrated with myself and the Mkushi City Council. We will come to all this in a moment...
Let me tell you the story.
Words escape me as all the people of Mikunku area and I want to say thank you for your donations. I have never encountered such a grateful group of people. As I have told my mother, if God does bless me as much as the villagers tell me he will, I have a VIP ticket to heaven.
The project was finished just as soon as it started. I can explain... The project became fully funded while I was in America for Christmas. When I returned to Zambia, I immediately called a meeting with all the head men and chief advisers to plan the next step. They said that we should start the next week. I definitely was thinking I would still have some time to adjust back to things. Before I knew it, I was in town with some of the men from my village buying all the spare parts needed and securing tools. The spare parts were ordered and would be in the next week when training started.
Training was so successful. We hired a man from a neighboring village to come and teach. For 2 days over 40 men were taught in lecture form. After the 2 days, they were sent out into the field to fix the 7 broken pumps to get hands on experience. It took them less than a week to fix all the pumps and have them feeling like new. The next step was up to me.
Every project as a few hiccups. The hiccup I encountered was that the company I wanted to use was family run. In this family’s company someone was sick. The company did not want to do business at the moment. I was on a hot search for a new company who would work with the same low price as the previous company. After many phone calls and expressing this problem to my friends, Katie came to the rescue. My friend Katie met a guy on a bus once who owned a mono-pump company. Luckily, she exchanged numbers with him and stayed in contact. She expressed the problem to him and he was on board.
Two days after contacting Lotus Drilling Company, they were in the village looking at water sites to make sure water can be found. It was a success! There was water all the places we wanted to put new mono-pumps. The company came back just 2 days later with the full crew and huge trucks. Drilling started right away. We drilled hard and far the first day with no luck. Three times. No water. I was not feeling like this was going to go as smooth as I wanted. The next day I woke up with hope. We hit water every time we drilled following our bad spurt. That first time we hit water was incredible. The women danced, yodelated and there was a reverence in the air. The suffer was over.
The next few days continued in this fashion. We would drill and hit every time. It was awesome. It didn’t even take a full week and all the pumps were finished. In total the project took less than 1 month to finish. The villagers were so proactive. I have visited each of these sites multiple times now. People are still so grateful. They tell stories of fetching water in past times and how now it is so simple. They are grateful. I am grateful.
Thank you so much for your donations. I could have not done it without you. The weight of the dry season has been lifted off the shoulders of the villagers in Mikunku area.
I wrote that a long time ago. Here is the problem we have encountered now... The council promised that if I did my end of the bargain they would provide the tools. This week I have discovered that they had lied to my face for 6 months straight. I talked to someone higher up than the one who was making all these promises and he laid it out for me. I was so frustrated and disappointed.
And now I am in a pickle but I will figure all these things out. I always do.
This water literally has been such a blessing. Words can't express.
