Pictures, Freetown & Kenema, Sierra Leone

This is one of Turay's walls.  We noticed that others decorated their walls and after this dries, it will probably be painted in pretty colors.

This is the Grafton Road project.  Because they are widening the road, we saw many workers jack hammering the granite.  This land is full of rock!

Elder Burns is standing next to one of the new wells recently built in the Kenema  area.  Some are in the district and some the city.  All in all, they were pretty well done.  We are doing a 90-day check to see if final monies can be released to contractors.

This well is at the amputee camp and they hit rock.  They will have to wait till the rains stop before they can  get someone to jack hammer the rock and complete the well.

While driving around we checked on old wells, about two years old.  None had broken down but they did have some  concrete problems.  They were told that they had to fix the concrete because dirty water was going into the earth, contaminating their clean water.  When Jim told them to fix it themselves, they could not seem to get the concept that it was theirs to fix.  He saw a young boy with a radio and asked the boy to give it to him.  The boy was reluctant but finally did.  Jim asked the people whose radio was this?  They all said it was his, because the boy had given it to him.  Right.  Well, what if this radio needs new batteries?  Can I just ask the boy to give them to me?  No, they said, it belonged to Jim, not the boy.  Right, Jim said, it belongs to me now so I have to fix it myself.  Now then, who does this well belong to?  To me or to you?  It belongs to us of course.  So, then who should fix it?  Oh, they finally understood!

He suggested they fix the concrete by plastering it here.

This was a new well and they even put on this lovely gate!  Picture perfect!  It was mostly a pleasing day.  We do not expect the same happiness in Waterloo.  It will take two more days to see all the wells.  One well they could not get to because it was a swamp, but the contractor had done good work and we felt it would also be good.