Mostly pictures, Liberia

We spent most of our day checking out areas where we might want to do a water project.  It was so hot and humid we all looked for trees or buildings where we could find shade.  The walk was long and all we wanted to do was get back in the air conditioned truck and get a cold drink!  It is so exhausting that I begin to feel like a zombie!  Below, some pictures from our day:

The graveyards are above ground.  The wealthier families are able to bury their dead in tiled boxes with plaques with quotes and the name of the deceased; those who don't have the money, place them in cement boxes and scrawl a saying along with the name of their relative.

While walking around in this highly populated community we saw many dip wells, but they were too salty for drinking.  This was one of the few that was drinkable, thus all the buckets waiting to be filled.  We might do some type of project in this large area.

Above and below: We met Andy on another trip.  He does a hand-drilled village drill and it us used in remote areas.  He also has a motor driven drill, which this one is.  His community development and construction are really, really great.  Below is one of the few properly done soak away's I've ever seen.  

This is one of our hand dug wells in the beginning stages of construction.

This must be the most popular kid on the block!  His dad made him an airplane out of metal scraps.  It was so cool!

We walked all over this huge area and checked out their water conditions.  This is city water.  The caretaker collects the money from the community and pays the bill to the city government.  In one area the caretaker disappeared with the money for the bill and now they owe $1,000 so the water was shut off.  They wanted us to pay their bill.  (Not happening!)  We told them we'd help after they figured out how to pay their own bills.  In other areas the water is just sometimes shut off, sometimes for a week at a time, so they want more stable water.

They start them young.  This little girl was hauling sand for her momma--something in the house.