Water, Water, Water

We have had another busy and eventful week. Our leaky roof was fixed from the outside and underneath. The outer wall around the yard is being worked on for large cracks and gaps between bricks, knocking down complete sections and rebuilding it all the way back in some areas. Fixing up the wall is necessary for security reasons. We have also replaced two ceilings in the house, which were falling down (one in the kitchen, where a light fixture was falling down, and the other in a bathroom, where the hot water heater had been leaking). We made sure to take plenty of pictures and some videos, so you all could see for yourselves what has been going on here this week.

Read the captions underneath these pictures to see more about the hot water heaters.

The ceiling in one bathroom was bowing badly and the paint had chipped off due to water damage.

After the ceiling was removed, you can see the hot water heater. It had been leaking and the bottom was being held together with duct tape.

Both hot water heaters were taken out, and new solar powered ones were installed on the roof. One gives water to one bathroom, and the other gives water to the other bathroom and kitchen.

One of the major projects that needed to be done while we are here was drilling a borehole. This is what is known as a well in the U.S. :-) The house has been using city water, which is not clean for drinking. The last couple of baths we took, the water was coming out brown. The city water pipes sometimes get cross-contaminated with the sewer pipes. This is definitely something that needed changing. The solution is to dig a borehole. Many individuals donated toward this project. We thought the process would take a couple of months with the drilling and hooking up of pipes, the pump, and electrical, not to mention getting a permit. However, we are very excited to say that the process started last Saturday, and will be finished this Saturday (we did not need to apply for a permit, which also sped up the process).

Below is a video clip of the truck arriving at the house. It was nerve-wracking watching it come through the narrow gate and down the narrow driveway.

The next video clip shows how the drilling began and Yolanda's reaction to it :-)

It was found that there was water down to 53 meters, including 5 breaks (pockets of water). They drilled down to 55 meters, which took about 4 hours. Once they got low enough and hit water, it started gushing out and down the hill like a flood. They said that we won't have to worry about it running dry because the volume is so massive. Boreholes have the potential to last 30-40 years. We will have plenty of water, as well as excellent pressure, which is something that not all boreholes provide.


Check out the captions below the pictures.

Once the drilling was finished, they put casing (the blue pipes) all the way down the hole to the bottom. This prevents the ground from collapsing. After an hour of putting them underground, they were done for the day. It takes 2 days for the ground to settle. Since the hole is so close to the house, we only needed a 0.75 horsepower pump. They put that toward the bottom of the hole.

Over the spot where they drilled, they put a stand, with a 5,000 liter tank on top. They got the tank up there by rolling it up the ladder. When we have electricity, the water will pump straight into the house. However, we will also have water pumped up to the tank, so that when there is no electricity, gravity will take the water from the tank to the house. Since the tank is so big, the electricity would have to be out for a few days before we would run out of water from the tank, for just the two of us, and will be very helpful for when we have more people here, i.e. mission teams.

Watch the following video clip to see how safety in the workplace differs from that in the U.S. :-)

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, there is no water hooked up to the house. We hooked up a hose to the borehole, and are running water outside to water the yard, plants, and trees. The first bit of water that comes out is a little dirty, so before it is hooked up to the house, we have to flush the system. With no water in the house, we took "baths" in buckets last night (picture below).

This picture's quality is low, because as we were "bathing" in a bucket, the electricity happened to be out, and thus our only light came from flashlights.

This is what we used to wash up at the end of the day, having no running water in the house.

We will have the blessing of hot, clean water by the end of the week. So much goes into the privilege of having quality water. We do not want to take it for granted. Thank you to the Lord for providing so many donors to make this possible!