The water well is proceeding to plan. We are ahead of schedule and plan to be finished this afternoon. Our plan tomorrow is to drive to the coast and visit one of the sites that COTHA out a well in a couple years ago. It will be good to see how the village has adapted and utilized the clean water.
In the morning we dropped the piping down the hole along with gravel to stabilize the well and after lunch started pumping...initially it was all muddy but by evening it was running clear! We'll still need to run it this morning before it is safe to drink but it sure is wonderful to see all the water.
Debbie, Karla and I have had an exciting time...aside from the wonderful experience of getting to know a new culture. Our mission is to teach health and hygiene...much of what we take for granted is news to them. During our downtime, we joined the women in the kitchen and learned to make tortillas (there was a lot of giggling on their part) and it was wonderful...so much chit-chat and both of us learning about each other. During that time some ladies came in with a surprise for us...they wanted to dress us in traditional dress...again, you can imagine the giggles! Even Karla, who speaks Spanish, didn't know what was being said as they we were speaking only in Mam. It was awesome to see the rest of the team's reaction when we came to lunch!
You will hear often how wonderful the people are when you visit and drill a water well but this village is above and beyond all of our expectations. The are a people of great faith, grace and hospitality and we are honored to have walked with them during this short time!