Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Nyquil comes in pill form and it
knocked me out for the night; Jim had to wake me up at 8 AM so I could get
ready to go. I felt a bit better after
having such a good sleep. E/S
Wollenzien picked us up at 9 AM and then we drove to pick up Morris. He is their site monitor extraordinaire. I think this means that he does a bit more
than just monitoring. He teaches the
community development and hygiene training; he constantly goes back to check on
the work that has been done to make sure that well committees are still
functioning and to see if there are any problems. He is also always on the phone checking with
people. LDSC has the reputation that ‘we
WILL check on your project’; they know this, and it helps keep them working.
Everything we saw today was
functioning, but maybe that was by design; we know that not everything will be. We saw a variety of projects: hand pumps,
latrines, and water towers. There are
several more paved roads in this area, but that didn’t keep us from leaving the
tarmac for some jarring rides. It didn’t
rain much, but we still drove through deep, wide holes filled with water, but
the worst were the small, muddy potholes that jerked us around as we drove,
making us wish we were either walking or on the back of a motorbike. Morris sat with Sister W. & me in the
back—luckily Morris and Sister Wollenzien are small people. In the large marketplace
areas the paths were narrow, muddy and strewn with trash.
All the wells that we
saw today were working; they check on them frequently; they are collecting
money; they have a strong well caretaker; each had painted on them the donor
(LDSC), the contractor, and the community that was to maintain it. (below)
This is a public
latrine in the marketplace; they are collecting money and therefore making some
extra. They have already had it pumped
out once and are planning on making the septic tank area larger.
This is one of 3 water points we
saw. The tanks are on a high tower and
they get city water; it is then gravity fed to the taps below. They sell it because the caretaker pays a fee
to the city for his or her water bill.
This one was very clean and the concrete was good. They found a way to lock the taps—it needs a
special key to get the water, which effectively keeps people from using it
without paying. The tank is on a tower
above left in the picture, not shown.
We stopped by a small
school where E/S Wollenzien are building a latrine. They required that the young man who runs the
school build them a bridge over the large ditch so that they could get into the
school to work; he built a very nice bridge, wide enough for a car to drive
over. He was also required to clean up
his area.
8-month-old little
girl, watching as her mom pumps the water.
We stopped by another school
where LDSC had built them a latrine.
LDSC had also given them desks a while back. When asked to see the desks, they learned that
they had all been broken. So Elder Wollenzien
is requiring his carpenter to make furniture with screws instead of nails. He bought a drill that he lets the carpenter
use and buys Philips screws, which are hard to find, for him to use in his
work. If they build this way, their
desks will last a whole lot longer. He
told his carpenter to start saving money to buy his own drill so that his
product will last. They use just nails
for the hinges on the latrine doors, and that is why they are usually hanging
on one hinge shortly thereafter—all they need is better tools and equipment and
things would last a whole lot longer.
Elder Wollenzien is showing them how to make a proper mix on the
concrete also.
These projects were completed in
either 2013 or 2015. The latter project
was completed even during Ebola with no oversight by LDSC couples. They have done a pretty good job of it. The key is having a good team on the ground
and then everything works better.
By the end of the day I felt
quite a bit better; Jim, on the other hand, got sick again and felt terrible…
Love, from Liberia
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