Wow! Time flies, and we are already in day 4 of our trip! Today we visited the villages from the Tanzania 2014 trip to see the progress being made on the proposed projects. First stop was Kising'a.
To our dismay, we woke up early to the sound of rain. Most of the road from the Lutheran Center to Kising'a was made up of red clay which becomes extremely slick when wet. Because of the weather, our 30-mile trip took two hours! However, upon arrival, we were greeted by Pastor Wahale who welcomed us warmly into his home and fed us warm chai (Swahili for tea) and chapati.
After meeting the villagers, we hiked up the trail at the edge of the village to the source water from last year's project. The path to the source is a mile-long trek which drops 300 feet before raising 320 feet. At the source, we were able to look closely at the cement basin built by the villagers and the new pipe which transported the clean water back into Kising'a.
We discussed the progress with the village handyman, Sajeni, then walked back into the village where we saw women using the faucets to wash and fill buckets. They let us try to balance buckets of water on our head like they do every day, and we can assure you it is no easy feat!
With several cries of kwaheri (Swahili for goodbye), we left our new-found friends and traveled onward to Lukani.
Lukani was another village that the Tanzania 2014 group received funding for implementing their water design. The rain had subsided, and after another bumpy ride on the unpaved Tanzanian trails, we arrived at the village. Air hammer drillers were on-site and were prepared to give a demonstration on how air hammer drilling finds water. To summarize, air hammer drills use compressed air to vibrate a drill bit to pulverize rock, sand, and whatever other debris stands in its way.... Pretty sweet, huh?! These guys pounded through more than 30 meters of solid granite in the time we were there AND were able to find enough water to supply a hospital in their village.
Once the drillers had reached 80 meters, our group relocated to the village pastor's house for a late lunch. White rice, noodles, peas, potatoes, and beef was provided. As is custom at many villages, we signed the pastor's guestbook and toured the village. After visiting their beautiful new church (it took six years to construct due to lack of resources) the pastor invited the entire Tanzania 2015 crew to plant avocado trees around the premise! Now, we can all legitimately say we have made our mark in Africa.
After seeing the amazing progress that last year's group made, we are more excited than ever to rise to our own challenges in the coming weeks!
