Forgive the wierd English

I don't know why, but this computer translates to Hebrew and then back to English, so my posting gets changed up a bit. Don't think that I've lost my English language ability! I've tried to fix the "Tyler" thing, but it changes back. So, I think you get the jist of my message, anyway.
Gotta go!
Cindy

I'm in Monrovia again

I am back in Monrovia, staying at the Lutheran Guest House again. I got back late Sunday night. We had an equipment failure and had to get supplies on Monday. I am staying here, though, because there's not enough time for me to go up and come back again. Transportation is a HUGE issue. Anyway, they should be back to work by now and have two wells completed in a few weeks. We got 2 wells dug and one partially cased. We had to build concrete culverts on site, as you can't exactly haul them by foot. And, I think I mis-spoke. I think I said that the villagers would haul the cement in from the end of the road, carrying it on their backs. They don't carry anything on their backs! They carry everything on their head!!
The computer that I have been using has died, and I've been trying to resurrect it. So far, no go. So, I'm borrowing a computer now, and I don't have the ability to post any photos. They will be coming, though. I took over 400 photos.
The best part of my trip was the people. They were so nice. I got to know some of them quite well. I promise that I'll have lots of stories to post later on.
I have been sick for the last few days after returning from up country (the jungle). I think it was a virus, as I feel fine now. I was so thankful for indoor plumbing!!! And water coming from a tap!!! The people at the Lutheran Guest House were concerned about me and even took me to the clinic for a malaria test. It was negative. The girl reading the test was confused at first, because she had never before seen a negative test. They say here that everyone has malaria. They just live with it.
Well, I've imposed enough on a kind person to use their computer. I promise that there will be more postings when I have the opportunity. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Also, thank you all for supporting the mission. The Kuwaa people need our help so much, and they really appreciate it.
Love,
Cindy

She's baaaack!

Cindy is back in Monrovia! She arrived a couple days ago but hasn't been able to get online yet. The internet is unreliable, but she is working on getting online with an update.

-Bekki

Up-Country

Hi everybody,

Cindy wanted me to let you know she left for up-country and will be back in a few weeks. Hopefully she will be back with good news of two wells installed and many latrines!

Keep her and the mission in your prayers.

-Bekki

And....We're Off!

Not off to the races, and not off our rockers, but off to the bush! Pastor Chris left yesterday with the first of 5 loads of materials and tools for 2 wells in the Kuwaa region. The good people at Lutheran World Federation loaned us their truck for a few weeks. Yes, it will take a few weeks. The road is so bad! You may already be tired of hearing about it. Chris should have arrived with the load last night in Fassama. I won't know anything until he gets back, as there is no cell contact up there. They plan to unload the truck today and rest. Then, tomorrow, they'll head back to Monrovia. We will load the truck on Thursday, and they'll be off again on Friday. This routine will continue (hopefully) until we have all 5 loads up. We expect to have it done by the end of the month. We are storing the materials in an old Connex container in Fassama. There is a lot of old equipment that was left by the logging industry many years ago. We are glad to have the container to store things in. Otherwise, it would be difficult to keep it from being stolen. We asked to have announcements made on the radio to tell the villagers when to arrive to pick up the materials. As I said, there is no cell phone coverage. We don't pick up the radio station here, so I hope that goes well. They should arrive to start carrying loads after the second load from Monrovia is delivered. The well technician will go up on the second trip and walk in to the village with the villagers. There are 25 sacks of cement, well pump, pipe, pump rods, and misc. tools to carry. We will split the sacks of cement in two, bag it in plastic and then rice bags. They have to carry it on their head for about 10 hrs, so 50 pounds is plenty. 100 pounds would be too much. There are 2 villages getting wells. The second village should send people on Feb. 24 to pick up their materials. Pastor Chris will go back and forth with the pickup each time and will be in Fassama to distribute materials. I will go to the first village (Gbeliyankei) next week - Feb. 16. The well technican and I will get that well started. They dig it by hand to about 40 or 50 ft, hauling dirt out with a bucket on a rope. During the dry season (which we are in, right now), the ground is very dry and the hole shouldn't cave in. They dig foot holds into the sides of the hole, to climb up and down. While the hole is being dug, we will cast concrete culverts in 2 ft sections. The hole will be cased with the culverts, which are only a few inches smaller than the hole. We have a pulley to lower the culverts into the well. You should see photos of this when I come back!
We also hope to be able to do repair work on some of the wells in other villages that are not operating. We are bringing a few spare parts. We found about 8 wells that are not working. We will try to educate someone in the village to be able to take care of the well, and I'm preparing log books for them to record the well depth, pump setting depth, work performed, etc.
I also plan to do some education about sanitation. We will have toilets!!! As a card-carrying member of the World Toilet Organization, I will see to it!
I ask for your prayers for the success of the project. It is amazing to think of the difference that we can make in these people's lives! There are about 500 people in each village that will have access to clean water, where all they had before was a muddy stream. It is truly a priviledge for me to be here. I thank you all for your support of the Mission.

Most Gracious Hosts

The people in the villages were the most gracious hosts. They offered us their best of everything for food and lodging. They have very little by our standards, but what they have, they offered to us. It was very humbling, and I also realized that we could not have survived without their generosity.

The villages varied in size from about 600 to 2000 people. They are farmers that live in town and walk to the farm every day. The smallest village only had about 20 houses, for 600 people. The houses are usually made of sod, with a thatch roof. We tried our hand at making the thatch roof - that's the photo above. The lucky ones have a corrugated metal roof (they call it zinc). They also weave a mat for the ceiling. They do have wooden doors, with a nail in the center for a handle. That reminded me of a hobbit door (from Lord of the Rings). They are also rather short doors and low ceilings. The bath house and toilet (if they have one) are outside. The best bath houses have a gravel floor and bamboo all around, with a cloth door. It's open to the stars. I guess if it's raining, you get a better shower. They use a bucket of water and a pitcher to pour it on. In the cooler weather (less than 80 degrees!), they warmed the water for us over a charcoal fire. That felt nice. I got where I really enjoyed the bath. We were usually very hot and sweaty after walking a long way in the jungle. It felt so good to be clean - at least somewhat clean. Our concept of clean sort of changed! We only brought about 2 changes of clothes, so I had a hiking set and a sleeping set of clothes. After the bath I put on the sleeping set of clothes. I washed my socks and underwear during my bath and hung them to dry. I bought the fast drying nylon stuff for the trip. It worked out pretty well. If it was cool at night, we used the Indonesian sarongs that we had brought, for covers. They have a similar piece of cloth here, called a lapa. I rolled up my extra clothes in a pant leg for a pillow.

I have to say, the worst part of village life is the lack of toilets! I am now an official member of the World Toilet Organization (no joke), and I'm trying to change that. They usually just "go in the bushes", which is rather unsanitary. When the rainy season comes, all of that washes into the streams. Then, lots of people get sick from drinking the creek water. The filters will remove the bacteria and parasites, so that will help a lot.

The food was good, especially after a long hike in the jungle. They always served rice. In fact, they say if you haven't eaten rice during the day, you haven't eaten. Usually, we had some kind of soup with the rice. Stan, the other volunteer, always asked for extra pepper. We call him Indiana Stan. He is really amazing. The soup consisted of "bush meat" or chicken. They have lots of chickens in the villages. The bush meat was what they hunted in the jungle. We really liked the porcupine, but didn't care a lot for monkey meat. Did your mother ever tell you to finish your plate, because there are starving children in Africa? Well, she was right. Malnutrition is very bad here. When we were finished eating, someone always cleaned our plates. And, they eat all parts of the animal - bones, skin, and all.

Well, there is a little insight into village living. They have no electricity or running water. The water is just dipped in a bucket from a stream. But now they have filters to make it safe for drinking! Thanks to all of you for supporting that effort!

Water Well Plans

We are making plans to return to 2 villages to install water wells for them. During our assessment trek, we found that 8 of the 13 villages we visited do not have a well. Of the 5 that do have wells, 4 have wells that are not working! Oh, the people need so much help.
We currently have funds for only 2 wells, so we have selected Gbeliekei and Lowuma. The villagers in Lowuma have taken it upon themselves to build a clinic and a toilet. They have no well, so we want to put one in for them. The villagers will dig the well to about 45 ft by hand. We are bringing a well expert from Monrovia. There is no road into the area, so we will bring materials to the end of the road, and the villagers will have to carry the materials on their heads along the forest paths. It will take them about 8 to 10 hours one way. We have a total of 50 sacks of cement, two hand pumps, tools, and various accessories. We are having trouble arranging transportation to the end of the road. The cost is outrageous, and we don't want to use all the funds for transportation. Please pray that we find something reasonable. The price is high due to the condition of the road. There are numerous log bridges to cross, and only a pickup or Land Cruiser can make it. So, we're looking at about 5 trips from Monrovia.