Inspecting Borehole Wells

It is the children's responsibility to get the water every day and every night.

This week I spent an afternoon with Grace Amono, President of the Gulu Rotary Club, inspecting 9 of the borehole wells that Frederick Bese’s Company, Frontline Engineering & Investments, LTD rehabilitated for the Rotary Clubs in the Seattle area. The drive took several hours and it was so beautiful to be in the bush to see the country side. At one point I noticed a moving rope crossing the road, but was to learn that it was a trail of ants that bite very hard! The driver stopped at the next ant crossing and let me get out of the truck to take a picture. As a neared the ants, they came towards me as if to smell me and taste my foot! I got a great picture of them.

This is the sign at the borehole that we rehabilitated last October

All of the wells were operational and very heavily used. It is a great thing to rehabilitate water wells. First, it provides a clean source of water for the surrounding area. Even I drink the water from the well at the orphanage; it is safe and clean. Second, it allows closer access to a water source so that the children do not have to walk so far to gather water. It is the job of the children to collect water every morning and every evening; no matter how far they have to walk to get it.

These kalang ants can bite very hard!

On another note, electricity is not something one can rely on here. It is off so often; day and night sometimes. When it happens to be on, we make sure to charge all of our electronic phones, computers and IPODS. I always know where the flashlights are; even our little phones have a “torch” (flashlight) on them. Our lives in America are full of machines that make life so much easier than here. It took me so long this morning to wash Kayla and my bed sheets, a towel, and a few clothes. A soak is sudsy water, wring them out, scrub them, wring them out, rinse once, wring them out, then rinse again, and a final wring before hanging them outside to dry. My hands get so dry for the next two days, and then I have to start all over again! I like to wash my clothes a few at a time, but Kayla is waiting until every single thing she owns is dirty, so she hasn’t washed much; just some underclothes and a shirt here and there. The mothers at the orphanage have a daily huge pile of clothes to wash. I usually hold the babies while they are doing their chores.

I also spent a full afternoon interviewing several more girls who need assistance with their school fees. Their stories are always sad and I wish I could help everyone that is coming to me. One lady was abducted at the age of 14 by the LRA rebels, given as a wife to a rebel soldier, and has a 5 year old daughter that she wants to put into kindergarten. She would also like to finish her high school education. Most of the kids I talked to lost one or both of their parents to the war or to HIV. If anyone is interested in sponsoring some of these girls, I can email you their stories and pictures and you can choose to sponsor an individual, or just send a fixed amount that I can use to help them with their school fees.