Blog for 8/4 (Thursday)

hello!

As we write this, at Pastor John’s house in Nyondo, we have just complete our first 48 hours on  our trip. Since last writing, we have experienced

many markets, city traffic, power outages, and many new friends. We have realized that everything is much more expensive than the group

experienced last summer, as Samuel explained that the recent Libyan Crisis almost doubled the price of food, fuel, and electricity (hence all of

the city blackouts). Stretching our budget is just one of the many tasks that lie ahead.

We started our day with a wonderful breakfast at the entebbe hotel and immediately met Samuel and went to the FDNC office, where we were

introduced to Joshua, Richard, and Miria who accompanied us and helped us navigate the market. Our main goal was to find as many parts for the

pump and the tank as possible. The good news was that multiple parts were available in Mbale, but the bad news was that all parts were simply

steele, not stainless steele. We had ideally wanted to stainless steele so that the parts would last as long as possible without corroding.

However, after all of our searches, we decided the best option would be to buy the steele parts in Mbale (easily accessible to the community) and

incorporate some type of shelter to protect the construction against rain and corrosion. The only part we are planning on ordering from Kampala

(an estimated delivery time of one week) will be stainless steele rod ends. We finished up at the market with a stop for lunch and food shopping.

Our travels continued as Joshua, Richard, and Samuel drove us to a previously active FDNC site, a local school, which had been stopped due to a

funding shortage. We gathered mattresses and drove, with a very full van, to Paster John’s house in Nyondo. The distance from the city to the

house is short, but the drive took ahile due to the poor road conditions. When we finally reached the house, we were introduced to our translator,

a FDNC intern named Carol, and James and David who helped us with cooking and watching the house. The house has a beautiful view of Mt. Eldon,

which we will hopefully hike once the projects are completed.

After finally catching our breath, our travel team was able to discuss the progress of our trip together. Greg has been working very hard at

establishing a location for the weather station, and was able to not only schedule a dinner with a local engineer in Kampala, but also meet the

administration of Nabumali High School, where we hope to place the weather station. Cliff and Greg also made many contacts at Pont Machine Shop, a

great place with ties to FDNC. There they were able to see many machines that we will need to cut the pipes and the metal. Everyone was so

helpful. Misaki is also hopefully about the development of the tank. We have heard that the village has pre-made the bricks, and hopefully when we

go into the village tomorrow we will will have all of the materials we need. After checking with John, we confirmed that the new materials found

in Mbale (such as galvanized iron) will be okay to use for the tank.

After we have had a chance to digest everything that has happened, we have gotten over some of our initally worries about the project. Samuel,

everyone at FDNC, our our team and all on the same page as far as a sustainable project goes. It is so nice to hear that we all agree that the

community should have ownership of the project. That is something that Erin F. will focus on tomorrow, as she approaches the community about a

water board and financial and monetary contributions to the project. The team will be present at the community meeting at 10am, and will hopefully

meet with Vincent, the chairmen of the town.

We now leave you with a farewell (arinde) and a few more liguisu words for practice…

Mulembe: hello!
Kamahoa: What’s the news? (what’s up?)
Kasila: No news (a response to kamahoa)
Oreyana: How are you?
Milie: I’m fine
Kametz: water

Until next time,
Erin C., Erin F., Cliff, Misaki, and Greg

8/5 Friday

Today we went into the Shilongo village for the first time. We expected to partake in a community meeting, only to find out that it has been moved

to tomorrow. We met the chairman of the village, Vincent, who was very excited and receptive of our design. We met and played with the children at

the borehole, who especially loved having their picture taken. We got new measurements and measured the flow rate of the borehole. Vincent

explained that there was something broken inside the borehole, and we found that the flow rate was down to 5.6 sec/liter. Hopefully this will not

impact our plans. We are now in Mbale looking for more parts, and taking advantage of the (slow) internet while we have it! Greg is planning on

meeting JOhn tomorrow in Entebbe, and the rest of the team will travel back to Mbale when he arrives to ask his advice on more parts.

Arinde! (Goodbye)

Erin C, Erin F, Cliff, Greg, Misaki