Magara Drill Site

It is probably about time we explain why we will not be doing the project we had expected we would. We told you all about the soilet and how it should work and help the people here before we left America. However after getting to know the area and looking into sites for soilets, we realized that they would help some but would not solve the problem of unsafe drinking water. The rivers where villagers fetch their water are still full of contamination from animals, garbage, and washing. Thus we decided to skip to the next step that would solve many more problems by drilling a well. We have learned that the earth is an entire soilet in itself. When you drill down deep into the ground, you find water that has been cleansed and purified of bacteria and parasites by draining through layers of sand, clay, and mud, the same ingredients used in the soilet design. We have decided that drilling a well would have a much greater impact on the people than a soilet would.

Cutest little boy on the bus to Magara wearing Landon's hat

So we took a trip out to the village of Magara, near Lake Manyara to view a possible drilling site. We met with the Village Chairman Godfrey and explained to him what we would like to do. Spear has drilled near this area before so he was familiar with how to go about pulling this project off. We found that the area has high chances of finding a reasonably shallow water table, which is excellent for the Village Drill, and that a well here would serve more than 1,000 people! This was great news to us. Godfrey gladly showed us around the village including the current water source (a river fed by nearby waterfalls) and also led us to the proposed well site.  

The long walk to the river. One that hundreds of people make several times a day.

The river was a fair 15 minute walk from the most of the homes and supplied unclean water shared between people and animals. Throughout the day you would find hundreds of people walking here to fill there buckets, wash their laundry, and water their goats and cattle. 

A home in the Magara Village

This is the proposed site for the well with the Health Clinic in the background and the school in the opposite direction. It is surrounded by trees that indicate the presence of water, which is a really great sign.

This location will be very accessible to so many people, which will help to disperse the clean water throughout the village. 

A man from the village was extremely nice and brave enough to let Landon borrow his motorcycle for a quick ride down the road. I think he has been super deprived all summer of his motorcycle fetish! He was in heaven. :)

This is the huge market in the area held each Wednesday. Everyone set out under their tarps with plenty to sell from fruits and veggies to shoes and buckets. We stopped to have a soda with the Chairman before we left back to Arusha. 

Oh the Randomness...

Pendo's Birthday

Birthdays here we go all out! It's a great excuse to have a party, which always means yummy food and sugar! :) It was our cook Pendo's birthday and we decided to have a party for her. We took her out to dinner at a restaurant then invited a bunch of her family to come over after for a no-bake cookie cake and a dance party. She was so happy and so grateful for the celebration.

Pendo of all people certainly deserved to be celebrated! She is such an amazing woman. She has two young boys, Allen and Loren, which are adorable. Pendo is an incredibly hard worker. We pay her to cook 4 nights a week. She buys the groceries for the meals and usually comes to our house around 1 or 2 to begin cooking dinner and finishes sometime between 6 and 7. We bought a couple electric burners for her to use, but she still thinks that cooking on an open fire is much better. It also gives a lovely campfire scent to all the freshly washed clothes hanging on the line! Oops!

Landon and I with Pendo's son, Allen

Every time Landon says anything to Pendo or helps her in anyway, she always turns to me and says in a very serious tone, "Don't be jealous!" and then we both laugh. She jokes with us all the time about being married.

We have started to get very creative with food around here. You can only eat PB& J and oatmeal for so long before you can't stand it anymore! No-bake cookies have been an absolute delectable at our house since all we have to work with are some pots and some electric burners. We also really like having hot chocolate, remembering to add a whole lot of powdered milk, a bunch of sugar, and a little bit of chocolate. With a curfew of 6:30 every night, we watch a plethora of movies and pop lots of popcorn. We crowd around on air mattresses and blankets in the living room and shoot the projector onto the wall. It's a really good time!

A few Saturdays ago, Landon and I went to the Snake Park, which turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment, but we did get to hold some snakes and play with miniature crocodiles. That was exciting! We also stopped at the Cultural Heritage Center, a central hotspot for mzungus. Apparently President Bush built it a few years back. It is basically a huge museum full of ancient African artifacts, paintings, and photography. It's also a place for tourists to shop for souvenirs without begin hassled to death. 

Throughout the summer, our house has been turned into a sort of dog orphanage. We started out with two large dogs, then came three more baby puppies some of the volunteers found along the road, and finally one more puppy that just appeared one day out of nowhere. They have all been given names from the Lion King of course. And sadly we have lost two of the little puppies along the way, not exactly sure what happened. 

By now we are really starting to miss home. Landon really misses not being able to drink clean water right from the tap and having to either boil it or drink bottled water. I absolutely miss my fridge, oven, and washer. It is amazing how much you tend to take for granted in America. We are also excited to sleep in our bed and have our own car to drive around. We are sure some very lucky people.

This is just a random building currently in the construction phase to give you an idea of how things work around here. Those are literally just a bunch of branches holding up the 10-story building. These people sure don't have much, but they do with what they have. I would be quite nervous to work in the construction industry!

Your Sisters Orphanage!

We recently found a new organization we have been working with just outside of Arusha near a town called Kisongo. Your Sisters Orphanage is an orphanage and school for young girls. The organization was started about one year ago by an American woman named Libby. After several visits to Tanzania, she decided to make Africa her home and has now lived here for 5 years. The orphanage, with only 7 girls right now, is still in its early stages of growth but has the potential to help so many orphans. Libby hopes to develop a curriculum that will cater individually to each and every girl. With her husband Frankie, a local Tanzanian, Libby has been organizing plans and finding the funding to begin building dormitories for the girls and a recreational area for the surrounding maasai community. 

Current beds for the 7 orphans

Before the demolition

In the meantime, we found other ways that we can help. Last week we held a giant demolition to tear down the old mud building behind the current home for the orphanage to make room for an improved kitchen and gathering area. It took some real hard work and we were covered in dust once again, but we finished it all in one whole day! Many hands sure make light work!

Landon on the roof!

Super dirty!

It was impressive to see how well built these homes are! First formed by a sticks nailed together into a strong structure, then insulated with mud, dirt and cow dung. 

Now that the ground is all cleared and leveled, we are excited to get going on the new kitchen structure! There are also volunteers who are implementing the IOL program into the school for the girls. Others are developing a Recreational Program to be used on the outdoor play field. We have also been trying to help the organization figure how to get water running to their home. We certainly look forward to these upcoming opportunities that will boost the orphanage into progress.