Work has started

Hello everyone,

I'm happy to report that work is underway. On Saturday, we trekked to the lake (despite the rain) where the pipes had been delivered. The villagers were already there loading the pipes into the canoes. All of the pipes made it across the lake except for one canoe of PVC pipe. They plan to send divers to look for them. The group trekked to the lake while the villagers worked on transporting the pipes. They were very welcoming and it is obvious they are anxious to get this project going. There is a sense of urgency to complete the pipeline before the rain gets any worse. We only stayed in the village for the day before trekking back. We talked to the chief for a little bit, who had very kind words to say. It is difficult for me to even describe what it was like in the village yet. All I can say is that the people are very grateful for this "gift from God."

The others returned to the village on Monday for their reception. Unfortunately, I fell ill on Sunday and was unable to attend. Hayley will speak more of the reception in her post. They will be staying in the village all week and work started Tuesday morning at 6:30am.

Hayley returned to Kumba on Monday night to stay with me and work on the filters while the others stayed in Barombi. Mr. Benjamin has put us in contact with a great welder who we have been working with. He is traveling to Douala today to get all of the materials we need for the concrete mold. We are scheduled to begin fabrication work with him on Friday.

Hayley and I have been really happy with the interest people have shown in the Biosand filter. Nobody here is familiar with this technology but they are so eager to learn. Mr. Benjamin has already told us that he is going to teach other villages around here about these filters, because even people that do have piped water don't have clean water. That has been very exciting because, after all, our ultimate goal is to teach so that this biosand filter can be spread to all villages. We have left alot of literature with Mr. Benjamin and he has been reading up on the technology. Even the welder is taking a great interest in this project. He said he has never done anything like this but is so excited to be trained so that in the future he can make more molds.

Once we have the concrete mold fabricated, everything else should be much easier. All other materials are here in Kumba. The two major challenges the project is facing right now is 1. all of the rain (nobody wants to bring materials to the lake) and 2. the horrible exchange rate we are getting from the bank. But all in all things are going well.

Today I am feeling better than I have. It has been very very hard adjusting to this environment. Being ill hasn't helped either (thank goodness we are living with a doctor). The more we work on these filters the better I feel. I am content when we are making progress with these filters because I truly believe in this technology. I really think this can make a difference. We have such a wonderful opportunity to do something very special here.

Thanks for reading!
Katie