Report By Chuck Guerber
Saturday was the first day that we ran the well for everyone. What started out as a few people quickly turned into many. I was trying to keep a rough track of how much water we pumped–my best estimate is between 800 and 1000 gallons. That’s a lot of buckets full! We didn’t stop until everyone who wanted water got it. The only water nearby before this was the water in the cistern, you’ll see the photo. People were using it for cooking, and for cleaning and laundry–I even saw a couple of people drink from it. Yes, those are tadpoles swimming in it . . .
Early on a few of the boys wanted to handle the hose. It soon turned into a little water fight between them, and it sort of turned into a bath for a bunch of them! I spend early evenings with these kids, either working on their English and my Creole, or working on bikes. Believe me, these kids needed a bath–there has been no water in the rivers or streams where they would normally bathe. The evening rains have helped a little, but we haven’t had anything substantial yet.
Earlier in the day I took a walk around the village. A family that I had stopped and played guitar for last January recognized me, and asked where my guitar was. I had left it back at the mission house, but they pulled one out for me to play! It’s my understanding that it belongs to their church. It was really in rough shape, but I attempted to play a while on it.
I later ran across what I think were red-colored pigeons. I had never seen them before, and I’m not really into birds yet. They were really pretty flying, though.
In church today one of the school teachers sat beside me. At one point in the service he told me that the entire congregation was giving thanks to God for the new well and fresh water. The Glory goes to God!
-
Chuck entertaining
-
Red pigeon
-
Pumping water
-
Filling buckets of water
-
Filling pan to wash clothes
-
Cistern with tadpoles
-
Haitian house
