Drilling a Well (Day 5)

So far in my observation Seeds of Hope seems to have 3 major ways to provide water for the people here.  One is hand pump repair that we witnessed already this week.  The second way is Bio-Sand Filters like we did yesterday.  The third is drilling new wells for areas that desperately need water.  Today we had the chance to be part of one of the drill teams.  We drove out to a drill location in an outer lying area of Ndola.  The drill team had already been out there drilling for 8 days and still had yet to hit water.  They were expecting to hit the depth of the water table in the next day or so.  The drill team basically lives at the site until the hole is drilled.  The days are long and at night the teams sleep camping style on the ground or in tents.  This particular drill team probably isn't what you would think.  Instead of a twisting drill, it is much more like a metal head on the end of a steel beam that gets dropped over and over and over slowly chipping away at the ground.  They say they can dig 5-10 meters a day depending on the geology of the ground.

After spending some time at the drill we were invited by the "head man" to see the current water source that his village is using.  The head man is the leader over that small village.  Then you have a Chief that rules over the villages that constitute his kingdom.  These Chiefs are separate from the democratic republic and voting process that Zambia has for government, but are still a big part of the Zambian culture.   So the head man and some other villagers lead us down to their water source which was a hand dug well that's gets its water from what looks like a stream or maybe more accurately a marsh.  

Jake trying to retrieve water from the hand dug well

This water did not look good at all, and many of the children in the village had eye infections and swollen stomachs, most likely the result of the water.  

Kirk mentioned that the swollen stomachs are probably from worms and parasites in them.  Today was yet another visual example of how much need there is here in Zambia.  Seeds of Hope has done a lot in the last 7-8 years but there is still so much more to be done.  They have provided water to over 400,000 people and saved so many lives, but there are still so many people that need our help.  

I'm very happy to be involved with Jake and Thorn Clothing because they are a great company that points to the more important things in life, like helping others.  And I am glad to now be involved with Seeds of Hope who are in the business of saving lives and doing it in the love of Jesus name.  I love witnessing first hand how our donations are going directly to the efforts here in Zambia.  I was amazed to learn that SHIP has only 2 staff members state side, which means that the money we give really is being used here in Africa.  It's amazing how effective a few dollars can be here.  

 
Imagine if you sacrificed one cup of coffee from the coffee stand.  That $4 could provide water for 4 people for 1 whole year!  Now imagine if you did that once a week.  You would be able to save 15-20 lives a month!  Most of us don't value $1 very much.  But here in Africa it is the difference between sickness and health.  




 Many times in the bible God tells us to not forget what He has done for us.  What He has done for me is shown me that I was put on this earth to love Him and love others.  And His love for me is not passive, but active.  It was active in that He went to the cross and gave His life for me.  In the same way my love for others must be active.  In Matthew 25 Jesus said whatever you do for the least of these you have done it unto me.  Therefor God expects us to act and not stand by, to love and not ignore.  I for one will keep looking for opportunities to love others and help the least of these.  Will you join me?  Together we can change the world, even if its 1 person and $1 at a time.