Wells

Last week it was GICs, this week it was GICs and wells and wells of tears metaphorically.

There are basically 2 types of wells. The first is – forages – which are pumps operated by foot or hand pressure that are the best as the water remains covered so therefore is not so easily contaminated. The disadvantage is that the mechanism does eventually wear out and most of them are over 20 years old suffering considerable daily use and exposed to grinding elements such as sand.

The second is – puies au ciel ouvert – which are open holes that collapse and get full of debris. In the dry season they get dry.

So many of the wells of either sort in the villages just don’t work and the commune just seems unable to seize any sort of initiative. Repairing wells or creating new ones can be very expensive.

 

Anyway, she of initiative got to hear of an entrepreneurial well repairer in a neighbouring arrondisement i.e. county and invited him over to visit one canton (group of villages x 13 = the arrondisement). In the interests of sustainability we also invited a Bogo chap who has some wells repair experience. Hence there have been days and will be more days of relentless moto rides, relentless exposure to the searing heat taking apart forages and identifying the cost of repairing them and assessing open wells to see where improvements could be made. The idea is that the really expensive ones go into a report and we try and group the VSO areas and apply together to Europe for financial support.

 

What is scary is that this is basic basic life giving stuff and it’s people like me who don’t really have a clue trying to do something and it isn’t strictly my brief. Unbelievably there are no international water charities here. One government organization has committed to work with 3 Bogo cantons this year on their water problems.

 

Is it also that they just don’t have the personal resources to begin to identify support and find solutions themselves? Out of the 5 wells we saw today, this guy can fix 2 of the forages in a way that will last 6 months until they see if they can raise money collectively for the proper new parts that can be bought more cheaply in Chad. They don’t pay water rates here of course. Taxation is a sort of heresy.

 

 

Metaphorical wells of tears. My 2 sort of friends here, H1 my national volunteer and H2, the new guardian de nuit, both got fed up to the point of desperation and had a good old rant about the unfairness of their family situations. Basically they are both in their early 30s and unmarried, although H1 ran away from her husband when she found he had another wife. Both take huge responsibility for feeding, clothing and paying living expenses such as bills and education fees (even primary school is not free here) for their brothers and sisters, mothers and other hangers on. In H1’s case Dad is now retired, has 3 wives, over 20 children (her mum had 12), but pays nothing any more for the first 2 sets of families. When men here ‘move on’ they are supposed to continue supporting their first families. I suppose as I write this I am thinking well is it much different in England? Any way it’s tough and there always seems to be one or the other needing serious medical treatment, death of a baby during birth, malaria etc and half the time she doesn’t even get her meagre salary on time.

 

H2’s father died and with it any chance of finishing his education, which is a shame as he is quite bright, so he left school and found a carpenter to work alongside and learnt a trade. He is not a very skilled carpenter, but no jobs here are done with the level of skill you would expect in the UK. He lives a hand to mouth existence most of the time trying to earn enough to feed about 8 people while his mum works in her rented fields. The brothers seem a bit clueless and then there are a few hangers on I am not sure why he bothers with other than he is a born again Muslim (i.e. converted as an adult) or there could be other dodgy reasons he is in denial about. While he gives it all the religious stuff he talks about using prostitutes so I don’t know. I don’t think that costs much (less than £1) and I don’t want to be totally unsympathetic – at least he isn’t bringing double figure children into the world he can’t afford to bring up properly.

 

I try to help in small ways without overtly giving them cash which over here is a no no because you would open floodgates. I give food, toiletries, my clothes – an in to the perks of being a nassara i.e. invitations where food is available etc and a listening ear and of course both of them have paid employment because of me.

La vie African! Just be glad you were born European. This week-end I am off with Belgian Elizabeth to see English/French voluptuous Lily in Mora and for a workshop in Maroua, so I get an expenses paid hotel night. I have packed my swimming gear.