[Guyana-Mission-Report] Digging for water

Yesterday we began digging for our new well in Shea. Shea Village has a problem with drinking water. The government has promised to dig some new wells for them, but so far they've not come through. Politicians here aren't any different than elsewhere. They make all sorts of grandiose promises until elections are past, and then they are promptly forgotten. Some in the village have grown tired of waiting, and dug their own wells but they're pretty primitive. They're not cased, and don't have protective coverings to prevent contamination or small children or animals falling in. The Health clinic where we will be staying at does have some rain water tanks, but they only work well during rainy season. When the weather turns hot, the tanks dry up. So we realized right away that we would need to dig a well. Believe or not, this is the perfect time to do it because it's been really dry, and the water table has gone way down. Yesterday morning we measured approximately 100 feet from the outhouse and started digging the ring. I got about 1" down and hit concrete. Opps! It was a left over project from a long ago. So we moved the site over about 5 feet and begin digging the 5 foot perimeter. Since we were in a rush to get this project done we drew up a contract with the Toshao (captain) to hire 4 men to work on this full time for the next five days (except Sabbath). The soil is hard clay mixed with volcanic stone and a little sand. It's pretty hard digging but definitely doable. The nice thing is that there is no danger of the well collapsing. By Monday this next week they should be down about 20 feet and hit water. What's so cool about this well is that a major path in the village goes right past the well, and when we set up our water tanks on the tower, we'll set up a faucet so that the villagers can help themselves. I just hope that when they come for water, that they'll stay and learn about the "Water of Life". God bless, James James & Joy Ash 121 Durban Backlands Georgetown, Guyana 011-592-629-5141 www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org James & Joy Ash Gospel Ministries International Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism 874 South McDonald SW McDonald, TN 37353 1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842