Day 7: Aug 22, 2017. Tuesday Today we left Doogles at around 9 o’clock as usual to visit Water for People, a local non-profit that contracted boreholes in underdeveloped communities just south of where Solomoni village lie. They were set up in a wealthier, residential neighborhood of Blantyre that seemed to float above the rest of the city. We were greeted in a conference room and given water bottles while we went over the questions we had emailed about days earlier. After running through the list of companies we were thinking of employing, Water for People told us which ones they had found success with and informed us they would share whatever new developments or maps they came across in the future that pertained to the Solomoni village.
From uptown Blantyre, we traversed the whole city to get back to Solomoni village. Just as we had 5 days prior, we drove into a conference of the village chiefs and leaders, eager with anticipation. The meeting was designed to go over the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which outlined Joshua Orphan, Solomoni village, and TEWB’s duties and commitment to the water project. About two dozen leaders and adolescents piled into the library as our group and Joseph explained the outlines of the memorandum, from agreements over taking photos to the most crucial part, village participation and contributions to the project. Rory, Liz and I each read a third of the memorandum while Joseph translated and then wrote down the pledge of each section on large sketch paper we taped to one wall of the library (in alternating Malawian color pen). Once we finished writing the agreement the villagers discussed their concerns and what they liked about our project and the memorandum. The chief reiterated his approbation for the project, specifically its attention to community involvement and the oversight the villagers would have. After a final prayer was recited, we broke for pictures and the village leaders happily wished us “zukomo” or “thanks” for our trip.
The day concluded with Joseph escorting us back to Doogles and staying around for several games of Bao, a local game played similar to mancala (where he suffered only one loss, to me). He told us it was time for him to go, and we thanked him for being our lifeline in every way for the past week. He wish us “tu anana” and we bid him farewell. Another borehole contractor came to Doogles at 6 o’clock, one highly recommended by Water for People and Joshua, and we discussed drilling in November and future business. He left after 20 minutes of talking, as he had been travelling from Lilongwe all day and wished to be home.