It's Well Time

Hi there again!

Today I had a lot of fun. Despite the overwhelming heat, I managed to survive yet another day off ship, accompaning the Water and Santitation team to Cheesemansburg, a collection of villages west of Monrovia.

This is where many of our off ship teams work, including our well drillers, our agriculturalists, and our health care educators. I spent the day watching the men of one village, under the supervision and teaching of our water guys finish and complete their own well!

It was great to see all the villagers taking ownership of the project. They had previously been getting their drinking water from a small river/stream near the village. They had separated the water they drink from the water they washed in, however the washing water was upstream from the drinking water site - as you can imagine we were happy to help them with a clean water supply.

The process starts with the villagers digging a very deep pit, about 30ft deep by hand (amazing I know) until they reach the water table. This is a little different to in Ghana, where they used a drill rig.

They continue digging. Once they have hit water, a large collection of concrete rings are lowered in to the well, cemented together. They then backfill behind the rings and create a concrete slab at the surface.

Once the concrete has set, piping, rods that controll the pumping action and the pump itself are installed. It is a very interesting process to watch - as the Mercy Shippers and the villagers work together to figure it out. The whole time our team are teaching them how to maintain the wells and fix them if they break. (Health and sanitation teaching teams go into the village after well completion).

Once all the preparation is done and the pump and handle are fully installed and screwed in, it is time to test it! It was so much fun seeing all the men, women and children getting excited about the fact that they now have a well that provides fresh, clean and cool water right in the center of their village. I felt very priviledged, thats for sure!

Even I had a go at pumping - but lets just say I certainly will not take it for granted that I can just turn on a tap or a hose and get fresh safe water anymore!! Good arm exercise though!

The team hopes to finish around 5 new wells, and re-establish some others that have for one reason or another broken, or become spoiled. I still admire that they can work out in the heat of the day - and am grateful for my on ship job! It is a great opportunity that we are able to go out and see what other Mercy Ships departments are up to. Its not all surgery you know!