It is now Saturday May 23. I will be adding several post. Now that I have internet again.
Last Saturday (May 16) I was picked up by the Todi Diocese driver and went to Bishop Abba’s home for breakfast (my second for the day) with the Bishop and the General Secretary for Mission Afrika, Kristian Skovmose. Mission Afrika is the new name for the Sudan Mission. They do not work in the modern country of Sudan so the old name was confusing. He is not here as the General Secretary but as a bee keeping consultant. He is giving workshops at all the divisions in Todi Diocese. This is the 5th time bee keeping has crossed my path in the last year. I found out that the local bee keepers do not use the bees wax and the LCCN wood shop produces a large pile of saw dust every month. I am thinking mix a little bees wax with the saw dust and compressing very hard and we have fire logs for cooking without going to the bush
After breakfast Dishop Abba and I went to Dakusung and talked to their water committee. Last year they had told me that they had not had water for 10 years. That the diesel engine powering their pump had broken. They had sent it to be repaired and it never returned. This year the story was that the Local Government had come and replaced the riser pipes in the borehole and now they do not have water or a motor. After a little talking they said that after the pipes were replaced they got less water than before but the motor was not working good. They wanted me to give them two new pipes and a new motor. We continued to talk. While we were talking the motor showed up. The person they took the motor to at the local government told them he could repair it if they paid him. The took the money and then when the local elections came he was not in the government any more they went and retrieved the old Lester single cylinder motor.
I explained to them that replacing the 2 pipes would not be hard. But the two missing ½” stainless steel rods that connects to the pump at the bottom of the riser pipes also have to be replaced. This created a lot of discussions with some people saying the rods are in the village and others saying they were taken by the repair people. The large group split into smaller groups with lots of simultaneous discussions. Some rather heated and all were in Hausa or the local language. Finally, I asked did the borehole produce water after the two pipes were removed. The people doing most of the talking would make good politicians because they did not answer my question and kept “on message” saying that two pipes are missing. So I continued to have them stand in the sun and I kept repeating my question until they all agreed that after the two pipes were removed they still got water. So my next leading question was “If the motor is replaced will you water?” The answer was that two pipes were missing and they would not get as much water as before. Finally, I asked “Is better to replace the motor and have some water or to continue to have no water”. After repeating this question several times I finally got the people to agree that some water is better than no water.
Finally, we had a consistent story and agreement that some water is better than no water. So we convened the water committee under the shade of a large Neem Tree. The committee is mixed with both Muslim and Christian members, mostly men but there were two women. I told them that my purpose to be in Nigeria was not to work on specific projects but to work on helping the LCCN create an overall water program that would include creative ways to help finance things like replacing the motor. They told me that they have collected 8,000 naira ($55) to repair the motor but do not think it can be repaired. I agreed with them and told them I would look into the price of a new motor and talk to people about getting a loan for the community or some grants. They were interested in the loan. I told them that at this point it is only an idea to use micro-finance model but change it to community loans with a longer repayment period coupled with grants and other innovative repayment programs.
After breakfast Dishop Abba and I went to Dakusung and talked to their water committee. Last year they had told me that they had not had water for 10 years. That the diesel engine powering their pump had broken. They had sent it to be repaired and it never returned. This year the story was that the Local Government had come and replaced the riser pipes in the borehole and now they do not have water or a motor. After a little talking they said that after the pipes were replaced they got less water than before but the motor was not working good. They wanted me to give them two new pipes and a new motor. We continued to talk. While we were talking the motor showed up. The person they took the motor to at the local government told them he could repair it if they paid him. The took the money and then when the local elections came he was not in the government any more they went and retrieved the old Lester single cylinder motor.
I explained to them that replacing the 2 pipes would not be hard. But the two missing ½” stainless steel rods that connects to the pump at the bottom of the riser pipes also have to be replaced. This created a lot of discussions with some people saying the rods are in the village and others saying they were taken by the repair people. The large group split into smaller groups with lots of simultaneous discussions. Some rather heated and all were in Hausa or the local language. Finally, I asked did the borehole produce water after the two pipes were removed. The people doing most of the talking would make good politicians because they did not answer my question and kept “on message” saying that two pipes are missing. So I continued to have them stand in the sun and I kept repeating my question until they all agreed that after the two pipes were removed they still got water. So my next leading question was “If the motor is replaced will you water?” The answer was that two pipes were missing and they would not get as much water as before. Finally, I asked “Is better to replace the motor and have some water or to continue to have no water”. After repeating this question several times I finally got the people to agree that some water is better than no water.
Finally, we had a consistent story and agreement that some water is better than no water. So we convened the water committee under the shade of a large Neem Tree. The committee is mixed with both Muslim and Christian members, mostly men but there were two women. I told them that my purpose to be in Nigeria was not to work on specific projects but to work on helping the LCCN create an overall water program that would include creative ways to help finance things like replacing the motor. They told me that they have collected 8,000 naira ($55) to repair the motor but do not think it can be repaired. I agreed with them and told them I would look into the price of a new motor and talk to people about getting a loan for the community or some grants. They were interested in the loan. I told them that at this point it is only an idea to use micro-finance model but change it to community loans with a longer repayment period coupled with grants and other innovative repayment programs.
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