Preparation of Well Culverts

While the digging is going on, we are also preparing concrete culverts for casing the well. The culverts are 36 inches outside diameter and have a 2 inch thickness. Wire mesh is placed in the center for reinforcement. After the concrete cures, the form is peeled off. Koko came up with this method to replace their previous method which uses a heavy steel form. The steel form is very difficult to carry by hand through the jungle. The sheet metal was easy to transport, and it worked very well. We made 19 culverts in Lowuma and 17 in Gbeleyankei. They were allowed to cure a minimum of 10 days before installation.

By the way, if you are wondering how to pronouce "Gbeleyankei", it is Bee-yan-kay. Accent on the second sylable. Lowuma is contracted to Lo-ma. The Kuwaa like the "Gb". It sounds mostly like a "B".

I learned a little of the tribal languages. The people in both villages are part of the Kuwaa Tribe, but they speak different languages. In Gbeleyankei, they speak mostly Kuwaa, and in Lowuma it is mostly Bandi. When you greet someone in the morning, you say "Good morning," and then you ask them how was their sleeping place. They should respond, "No fault with God". That's a little different, isn't it? When speaking English (the national language of Liberia), you greet them, "Good morning. How are you?" and they respond, "Thank God". They are glad to be alive. Greeting people is important to them. Relationships are important. Americans need to slow down a bit to be culturally appropriate in Liberia. In the morning, the villagers walk around and greet each other before starting their day. During our assessment trek, I walked around with Pastor Chris in the morning.