Sorry this is late... been having trouble with uploading quality photos... the internet is being too slow, but here it is finally despite the low resolution photos.
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We left the house today. We packed up everything of ours... clothes, cloth diapers, food stuff, cooking stuff, camping gear. I had feelings of excitement, anticipation, and a slight fear. I had gotten comfortable in my little home where I at least get electricity every night and often during the day, my solar fridge with cold water, my flushing toilet, and running water.
I was going out into the unknown... what kind of toilet situation are we going to have here (some are really bad), is it going to be a pain to deal with Aden's poopy cloth diapers, whats it going to be like sitting and talking to women that don't speak my language, am I going to get malaria, is Aden going to get sick while being in such close contact with people that don't wash their hands often and are sick? These are some of the questions I faced as well as the good ones: how is God going to use me and grow me? Are people going to be receptive of the news we bring?
We went to the damsite to pick up our 6 well drilling guys and 2 well kits. There were 3 cars in our caravan... chad came with us so we would have enough room. But with all the weight on our (not so) trusty old Land Rover, we overheated all the way to the site. We had to pull over every 5-15 minutes and wait for it to cool down. Then, once we hit our turn off from the main highway into the bush, we were blocked by a large palm tree that traversed the road. Good thing we had a bunch of strong well drillers with us because they helped move it out of our path. I felt like Satan was already putting up rode blocks to our trip which made me want to laugh in confidence to our mission because I knew it would be fruitful and he was scared to let us in.
Us and all the well drilling guys at the damsite before we left
You can see why we overheated... our car was loaded down with heavy well drilling equipment.
We arrived in the community a lot later than we had planned... but the community was there waiting for us singing and dancing. We had a quick meeting with the elders (as one always does when entering into an African community) We asked for their assistance in a few areas while we are living there: Water for drinking (we filter it), brook (Krio for laundering), and water to use in the well digging as needed. We also asked for sand and red gravel for the masonry of the well, and finally we asked that they would prepare us lunch everyday. We brought 50 kilos of rice, but asked that they would make and provide the 'sauce' for it. We cleared a nice spot in the jungle under some trees to set up camp. We put up 3 tents... two 8-man tents that housed 4 in each and then a nice canvas one for John and I. For dinner they prepared a crain crain sauce that had "bush fol" (aka chicken) in it that is served over rice. Crain crain is a local green that is sliced really thin and cooked in various 'sauces' The sauce is made mostly of palm oil and hot pepper.
Clearing out the brush so we can set up camp
Following the ladies as they walk to get us water
My little traveler
It was very cold at night... I was really surprised! I had to put socks on and was thankful John convinced me to bring a blanket. We took Aden into the bed with us in the middle of the night because the poor little guy was cold!
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We left the house today. We packed up everything of ours... clothes, cloth diapers, food stuff, cooking stuff, camping gear. I had feelings of excitement, anticipation, and a slight fear. I had gotten comfortable in my little home where I at least get electricity every night and often during the day, my solar fridge with cold water, my flushing toilet, and running water.
I was going out into the unknown... what kind of toilet situation are we going to have here (some are really bad), is it going to be a pain to deal with Aden's poopy cloth diapers, whats it going to be like sitting and talking to women that don't speak my language, am I going to get malaria, is Aden going to get sick while being in such close contact with people that don't wash their hands often and are sick? These are some of the questions I faced as well as the good ones: how is God going to use me and grow me? Are people going to be receptive of the news we bring?
We went to the damsite to pick up our 6 well drilling guys and 2 well kits. There were 3 cars in our caravan... chad came with us so we would have enough room. But with all the weight on our (not so) trusty old Land Rover, we overheated all the way to the site. We had to pull over every 5-15 minutes and wait for it to cool down. Then, once we hit our turn off from the main highway into the bush, we were blocked by a large palm tree that traversed the road. Good thing we had a bunch of strong well drillers with us because they helped move it out of our path. I felt like Satan was already putting up rode blocks to our trip which made me want to laugh in confidence to our mission because I knew it would be fruitful and he was scared to let us in.
Us and all the well drilling guys at the damsite before we left
You can see why we overheated... our car was loaded down with heavy well drilling equipment.
Clearing out the brush so we can set up camp
Following the ladies as they walk to get us water
It was very cold at night... I was really surprised! I had to put socks on and was thankful John convinced me to bring a blanket. We took Aden into the bed with us in the middle of the night because the poor little guy was cold!
