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Friday, October 18, 2013

Water, heat, and a little girl named Piriani

About a month ago I got asked to see a water problem in a village about 13km from my house. Now this isn't far- but when it's hot season and you have to ride a bike on what i would consider sand, it's not really fun.  I wasn't looking forward to this trip and I regret that selfishness now. When I arrived I found a borehole that had not been working for ten years and a solution that to me, was mind blowing. Here I met a young girl named Piriani who will always have my heart. 


Piriani is 7, she speaks only Chichewa, is in standard 2 (2nd grade) and draws water 4 times a day from what could only be described as a whole in the ground.


Now drawing this water takes an immense amount of time, from patiently skimming softly a the surface to not get any dirt in the water, to waiting in line to draw the water itself. Piriani not only does this 4 times a day to help her family but also has to walk back up the river bank and to her house with this small amount of water taking hours away from her youth. 

(See the hill in the background)

I applied for a grant, as I usually do, and some amazing thing happened, instead of begging and pleading with my family and friends, some random person, who I don't know, donated the money almost immediately. A God send really, and a sign that this was most important to finish. I was also having big problems at the bank with the money coming in late,exchange rate issues and i was really starting to feel the pressure of this project. Thankfully the money came in, although not as much as I was expecting, and the parts got dropped off to me by a very patient "parts dealer" and  I was back to the village to meet Piriani again.

(On the left) 

Come to find out when taking the borehole apart the pipes were all put in upside down for the last 10 years and this was causing the majority of the functionality problems. This is Africa. I can't even explain how hard I laughed at the fact that the borehole was breaking itself over and over again because it was assembled wrong 10 years ago. I know this isn't funny, but the irony of this nearly killed me.   Meanwhile I watched from a mango tree with these goons;



Finally the borehole was fixed, and of course I convince Piriani to let me take her picture. 


Not only will this borehole save time for Piriani to draw water, so she has more time for play, and to enjoy being 7 as much as she can, but the risk of waterborne disease has greatly decreased.


The smile on this girls face and the fact that this Rainy season she may not suffer from cholera or another diarrheal disease brings joy to my heart. 


Of course the rest of the children enjoyed too! Thanks to everyone who supports me through this journey, your encouragement is really doing more than you think. 


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