It’s a Small World

The day started with a fabulous breakfast by Amanda. That girl can really cook! I’m surprised the guys aren’t 200# each. At this rate I’ll have to be upgrading my wardrobe when I get home.

One of the main jobs Forrest and Lance do here is repair boreholes that are no longer working. The boreholes that needed fixing today were North of Lake Bisinia, about a 2 hour drive away. Lance and the five of us hopped in the Land Cruiser pickup and headed off, picking up Little Isaac on the way. He’s a 23 yr old that helps the mission with the bike repair, and likes to come on the well days when he’s free.

A majority of the drive was down bumpy dirt roads, past swamps filled with blooming water lilies, grass and bathing natives. Every now and then you’d see a wooden canoe poling it’s way through the grass. Surprisingly, nobody shrieked or screamed when they saw white people driving by. That was massively refreshing! There is nothing worse than causing a large stink everywhere you go.

After checking out a few potential projects with an important man called Martin, we eventually ended up at the pump that needed it’s pipes replaced. I languished under a shade tree with the ants and watched as the guys worked. It was a wet, muddy job, pulling up all those pipes. Some of the villagers stood around watching in orderly rows. Mostly orderly anyway, there was a bit of yelling and slapping and consequent reproving, but overall it was peaceful. When the job was done, everyone gathered round while Forrest told a Bible story about the Prodigal Son. Bibles were sold, tracts handed out and goodwill was spread all around. One ancient lady came rolling up on her big black bicycle and made a quick purchase as well. Forrest was handed a chicken and some ladies rushed off to quickly dig 40lbs of sweet potatoes to send to us.

The next well was out in the weeds and crops at a Health Center. It hadn’t been working for seven years, so there was lots of unburying to do. Heath and I walked over to the town center to grab soda’s and chapati’s for everyone’s lunch. I had forgotten how good a hot chapati is, right off the pan. That’s standard E. Africa street food and is basically a thick tortilla. It’s pan fried in copious amounts of cooking oil so it’s clear ish and crispy and soft all at the same time. The sodas came from a fridge, but you wouldn’t have know that if you hadn’t seen the fridge with your own eyes.

We wanted to be sure to catch the Lake Bisinia ferry to go home, so we didn’t linger long when the work was done. The ferry is run by the government and carried lots of people, motorbikes, a few cows and a very nervous sheep. We were supposed to register to ride at the terminal, and also for sure wear a mask, but somehow weren’t required to do either. That caused some small confusion while boarding, but it all worked eventually.

A large group of people were happy to hop on the back of the truck as we exited the ferry and we hauled them back to Kumi town. It was supper time when we rolled up to the purple wall of the compound. We were tired, and those who had ridden in the pickup bed were burned to a crisp. Somehow the guys dredged up enough energy after supper to squeeze gallons of orange juice from the tree in the front yard. There’s pretty much nothing that can beat fresh squeezed juice!