When we
arrived at the well today, we had nearly four meters (just over 12 feet) of mud
that had fallen from the walls of the well into the bottom of the bore
hole. We spent most of the morning
bringing the mud out. Our new team
wanted to use some of the other tools instead of the auger since they had
learned about them the afternoon before.
But after explaining to several of them why the auger was still the best
way to proceed, the best of the team took charge and told the team how to
proceed.
We would
have had the mud out much sooner, but it rained hard for nearly an hour. Not wanting to get anyone electrocuted by
lightening striking our drilling tubes which stick 24 feet up in the air when
we extract them from the hole, we took a break to let the storm pass. Once the mud was cleared, progress moved
forward very quickly.
Our team is
learning well, and several team members have stepped up and show great promise
as team leaders. It will be difficult to determine the A and B teams as we finish our training.
While Steve
and I (Mark, if you haven’t figured this out yet) work the drill site with
Jacques and Carmen from Water 4, the rest of the team is continuing to visit
schools in the area and learning about the community needs that have to be
addressed for water to become sustainable in the long run.
At day’s
end, the team we were still in clay at 16 meters (52.5 feet). Ten feet of progress does not sound like a
lot for a day, but as hard as this clay is, that is really good for a new
team. And the most exciting part is that
we definitely have been able to identify an A and B team for drilling after we
leave. There are some really sharp guys
who have stepped up to be part of this from the local area.
Tomorrow,
Steve and I are going with the rest of team to tour a kindergarten and a
nutrition farm as we continue to understand the local needs (all which start
with clean water). In the afternoon we
will return to the drill site. Please
say a small prayer that we hit gravel, rock or sand soon!
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