Well trip and other things

the car all packed and ready to head out again

Sorry for the delay. I know you were all waiting to hear about the well....well...there is a reason I didn't post about it...it was a bit anti-climatic...they went out again and faced technical challenges again. A locally sourced metal plumbing part broke and left the drill bit in the hole... again. The villagers have thus opted for a hand dug well and our team is paying for cement reinforcement rings. Hand dug wells are less hygienic and less safe than the borehole well we had been attempting, but the villagers are just happy to have water. Here are some pictures from the second attempt:

Rog made this drill bit using an angle grinder

having some fun...our teammate, Paul, made this tower for Rog and it helps to pull up all the pipes

So that was the end of THAT drilling attempt. Rog is currently attempting 3 more wells, but is also faced with challenges. On two of them, he has hit rock which is extremely difficult to drill through manually.  Our teammate, Paul, has recently hardened this drill bit which allows the rock to be smashed up, but it takes a great deal of patience. Please pray that we can make some breakthroughs. 

One of the sites Rog is working on. It is 40+C and no shade anywhere

While Rog slaves away under the sun, I usually get to find shade somewhere and though it is still hot, I can't complain! 

There are so many babies! Niger has the highest fertility rate (around 7.5 births/woman) so no wonder there are so many babies, but the sad thing is there are not enough means to care for them all! It is one of their causes of poverty but they don't seem to realize it. 

This is baby Jean, whom I wrote about here.  He was born premature and we weren't sure if he would make it but he is healthy now! 

baby girl of one of my VSL ladies

my own babies!! :) our team had a chance to go to a nearby game park and spend a weekend retreat there

 This past week, the spot under our tree where we usually meet for Village Savings and Loans was a busy place. The biggest noise came from this little boy (about 6 or 7) who did NOT want to take a bath. It was so sad to see him beaten and get completely filthy before he finally succumbed to his mother's wishes.  After it was all said and done, I asked the mom why he didn't want to be bathed, and she said it was because he didn't want to take his pants off in front of everyone. I don't blame him!!! My 7 year old would NOT allow me to bathe him in front of everyone either!! Poor kid. 

Lastly, it is mango season!! We got this mango from the tree in our yard (it only gives a handful of fruit) and to show you how big it is, I asked my kids to put it next to their heads. Yep, it was a big mango!!