Shifting sands, hard to stand
*****
So my priorities for the community have changed - or at least, my methods of going about finding solutions to the problems have changed.
Talked with World Vision about the two communities that need boreholes and they're very supportive and eager to start working in the villages, but two things are holding them back. First, they're operating in another region right now, so they won't be able to return to my area until around November or December of next year at the earliest. And then they've yet to find any potable water source/alternative to the dried borehole sites that are already in place. This poses a bit of a problem as the rainy season is upon us so no work can be done until next year. One of the villages will be okay - there's quite a few aluminum roofs so people can collect rainwater off of that. The other one, my small one, has no zinc roofing, so that option isn't available. They dig a well every year to collect runoff water, but it always collapses halfway into the rain because the soil's not stable enough to support it and they can't afford to buy bags of concrete.
SO, with that in front of me, I decided to think outside the box a little bit and go large-scale. There's a school building in the tiny village that has no roof. The community and I decided that it'd be a great idea to put some aluminum sheeting on the building, set up some gutters and install two large Polytanks to hold rainwater. This way the community has more access to rainwater throughout the dry season AND the school gets a roof so they can meet longer than 6 months out of the year.
It'll be a great project that'll help out the community a lot, but, as my favorite television character Jack Bauer likes to say - "We're running out of time!" Rainy season is almost upon us and if we don't get it built and functioning before the rain sets in, that's an entire season of water down the drain, pun intended.
It's not that it would be a horrible thing, it's just that, we've got future income-generating ideas we'd like to do and we can't start them until we have water. If we have to wait until another rainy season comes around to get the water, then I'll be on my way home.
The clock is ticking, but I think it can be done. I've gotten all the paperwork finished and it's waiting for approval. It's a longshot, but maybe this proposal can cut through the red tape and layers of bureacracy fast enough to be implemented next month. Fingers crossed. Prayers sent. Over and out.
PS - Here's a shot of Fusina and her mom, Abibata, while Fusina is doing her "shame on you" recital of "ay-ya-yoooo!" How can you not love that face?
And here's a shot of a rastafarian riding down the Kumasi-Accra road with a baboon on the back of his motorcycle. The calabash helmet and the sheer joy on his face says it all.
So my priorities for the community have changed - or at least, my methods of going about finding solutions to the problems have changed.
Talked with World Vision about the two communities that need boreholes and they're very supportive and eager to start working in the villages, but two things are holding them back. First, they're operating in another region right now, so they won't be able to return to my area until around November or December of next year at the earliest. And then they've yet to find any potable water source/alternative to the dried borehole sites that are already in place. This poses a bit of a problem as the rainy season is upon us so no work can be done until next year. One of the villages will be okay - there's quite a few aluminum roofs so people can collect rainwater off of that. The other one, my small one, has no zinc roofing, so that option isn't available. They dig a well every year to collect runoff water, but it always collapses halfway into the rain because the soil's not stable enough to support it and they can't afford to buy bags of concrete.
SO, with that in front of me, I decided to think outside the box a little bit and go large-scale. There's a school building in the tiny village that has no roof. The community and I decided that it'd be a great idea to put some aluminum sheeting on the building, set up some gutters and install two large Polytanks to hold rainwater. This way the community has more access to rainwater throughout the dry season AND the school gets a roof so they can meet longer than 6 months out of the year.
It'll be a great project that'll help out the community a lot, but, as my favorite television character Jack Bauer likes to say - "We're running out of time!" Rainy season is almost upon us and if we don't get it built and functioning before the rain sets in, that's an entire season of water down the drain, pun intended.
It's not that it would be a horrible thing, it's just that, we've got future income-generating ideas we'd like to do and we can't start them until we have water. If we have to wait until another rainy season comes around to get the water, then I'll be on my way home.
The clock is ticking, but I think it can be done. I've gotten all the paperwork finished and it's waiting for approval. It's a longshot, but maybe this proposal can cut through the red tape and layers of bureacracy fast enough to be implemented next month. Fingers crossed. Prayers sent. Over and out.
PS - Here's a shot of Fusina and her mom, Abibata, while Fusina is doing her "shame on you" recital of "ay-ya-yoooo!" How can you not love that face?
And here's a shot of a rastafarian riding down the Kumasi-Accra road with a baboon on the back of his motorcycle. The calabash helmet and the sheer joy on his face says it all.
