Day 3- Encouragement

The completed block walls

Shortly after arriving in Sendafa this morning, Kevin Sterner and I headed over to the tank to check on the progress that the mason had made in getting the first rows of brink laid. He seemed to have everything that he needed, so I rode with Dr. Frew over to the clinic for the clorinator parts were stored for safekeeping. We loaded up all of the supplies that we needed to mock one up and brought everything back to the tank. We were getting back in the truck when a very sick woman approached us and Dr. Frew offered her a ride up to the main road. She was holding a new Bible in her hands, along with her medication that she had just received from the clinic. She spoke no English at all, but the Doctor explained to us as he showed her where he wanted her to begin reading, that she had just become a Believer last week. We smiled at her and gave her the “thumbs up” sign, and she grinned from ear to ear.

Kevin Sterner with the mock-up system

As we arrived back at the tank, the seventh and final row of brink was laid and the mason and his helper were doing the finish work by making sure the joints were properly filled. We worked with them to get a small platform for the system set and cemented in the center of the shelter. Then we were able to mock up the system to get measurements for the supply pipe and the exit pipe. After that was done, the mason explained that he would like the concrete to cure for two days before any more building was done.

We suddenly realized that it would put us on target to finish the structure on Saturday, which would be our last day in the village on this trip. We would not have time to get the chlorine water treatment system assembled and operating on this trip. After talking to Mike Johnson, our Team Leader, we were relieved to find out that it was a good thing that we were delayed. The system that we were planning on using was quite complex and not easy to maintain. It may have only run for a few weeks after we left before they were back to square one. Mike had been working with some contacts that he had and devised a plan to get a much more efficient system installed on the next trip. Not only would it be more efficient, but it would be very simplistic and easy to maintain. (Replacement parts can be very difficult to obtain in Ethiopia) So the bad news is that they chlorination system would not be complete until the next trip in late July. The good news is that the structure will be complete when they arrive, and all of the supplies will be on hand when they get here. They should have the new system up and running within a couple of days of their arrival.

The corrugated steel being delivered

While we were waiting for Dr. Frew to come back and pick us up, a few teenage boys came by to see what we were doing. They did not speak very much English, but as soon as I said the word “chlorine”, they got very excited and started yelling “Clean water?”, “For us?” and jumping up and down and smiling from ear to ear. It was very encouraging.

On the way back to meet with the other teams, we stopped by a store to purchase the corrugated steel and eucalyptus poles that we needed to complete the structure on Saturday. We also arranged to have it all delivered by mule cart.

The pottery shops

After another relatively late lunch, we headed back to town. We were halfway back when we saw a row of small shops that were selling homemade pottery. Dr. Frew stopped our little caravan and allowed us to make a few purchases. Bianca and I are now proud new owners of a traditional Ethiopian coffee pot and set of bowls. (the ones you use for sugar and cream, etc.) While we were waiting for the others to finish their purchases, we saw a seven year old boy approach from across the street. He had a stick in his hand. He was immediately seen by a man near the shops (we assumed was the Father) who grabbed the stick from him and began to beat him with it. We were horrified, but could do nothing. The boy was sent back in the direction he came from. As we watched he slowly walked away with his back hunched, we saw a small herd of cattle in the distance and realized that he was supposed to be watching them. I could only think of how we don’t even trust our kids to cross the street at that age, let alone supervise the family cattle.