Clean Water

Since we have been at Kasese there has been quite a story about the water here.

When we first came here the water which was used for the site here was coming from a well which had a high salt content in it.  So it was good water for doing some cleaning and showering.

Other than that we had to cart in our water everyday, clean water that is.

We progressed this way for about 8 months.

A few weeks ago we had a medical mission come in, but it was more than them which came in.  We happened to get an early Christmas here at Kasese.

Before the medical mission came, through the powers to be, we got clean water at Kasese. And to top that we got a new hot water heater also and now we are able to take hot showers.

It has been an awesome few weeks here since that change.

 

Our kitchen, although more cabinets have been installed and it has been cleaned up

 

Without clean water, it is hard to live.

I thought about this last night as I anxiously with some excitement watched the water heater slowly heat up the water to a point of a steaming hot shower.

I do have to say that sometimes it gets boring here so the smallest things get us excited.

 

There are no kilns here so they fire bricks by stacking them and firing wood underneath

 

So with the undertone of clean water we just got finished with a medical clinic last week.  We saw about 300 people while the doctors were here.

 

Replacing one of the floors

 

One of the nice things about having the group here is that we had a cook come in to cook for them......but Araceli and I happened to join in on the meals which lightened the load of work for us to do.

It was a small mission group, only 3 ladies, but it was nice to have them here, to meet new faces and also to talk with them.

We dropped them off last week at the airport and have just been working away here.  We have been developing the site more along with the buildings.

We got about 10 guys out here last week to clear all of the land, which they did a good job of. 

 

The land after it has been cleared

 

Now all of our energy is being put onto the guest house and getting that ready for larger groups to come to Kasese.  This is the guest house which got a large portion of its roof ripped off from a storm and has large water damage inside.

We have almost finished replacing the floor inside with a new one and yesterday we picked up new corrugated roofing sheets to put on the roof.  The carpenters should begin working on that today or tomorrow.

 

Putting up a new ceiling 

Then there is the detail work, which always seems to take the longest but we are working away at getting everything done here.

I have gotten through another book and although it is a bit more graphic and has a bit more language I recommend people to read it also.  It is called The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay.  It is a fun read. 

Other than that things are progressing as normal here.  We get our shipment of paint in this weekend so we are looking forward to painting the entire complex.

Chipaso Secondary School

Well what a time it has been.  Right now we are in the middle of a medical mission trip here and I somehow found time to write a blog post.

Over the past couple weeks, aside from preparing for the mission group to come we have been involved with a Secondary School here. 

It just so happens that the Headmaster of the School and I share the same philosophy about how a school should run and we tend to get along pretty well.  It also happens to be the school which the girl we sponsor, Linda Phiri, goes to school.

 

Taking a tour of the site.  The bricks which were just fired numbered 80,000

This school is Chipaso Secondary School.  It is located in Kasungu and is adjacent and involved with the Catholic Church.  Also the girls there are boarded which is run by the Carmelite Nuns. 

When I first came to this school two years ago I was impressed with it because of the discipline and thoroughness which they have towards the students and education.

When Araceli and I first brought Linda to go to school there it was a nice chat which we had with the headmaster and his expectations for Linda.

 

Taking a tour of the computer room

 

When she started off she was shy at the school and it was difficult for her to adjust.  We went for a meeting there two weeks ago and found that she is making high grades and has been appointed the prefect for her class.  This was great to see.

I write all of this to lead up to the point of this blog.  And to express the satisfaction I have had with the school in the past.

About 2 months ago Araceli and I met with the headmaster and found that Malawi was implementing new standards for biology and physics in all of the Secondary Schools.  The problem was that the schools did not know how to compensate that request.  There was no buildings, there was no facilities.

So what to do?

This was the question which the headmaster presented us.

From that point on we have been involved with the committee for the school for planning and development and have been working on raising funds to erect a new school building.

We laid out the budget and our eyes widened quickly.  But then we broke it down into smaller.....smaller numbers and decided things could be much easier.

So we worked away asking for money and donations and continuously having meetings until we found that things began to work out.

I spoke with the headmaster last week and found that they had broke ground on the project and were already digging the foundation.  And donations were coming in for the project.

I was exhilarated to hear all of this.

 

Casey on our medical clinic

 

So the project is going on and there will be bumps as usual but it will get done because of the leadership involved.

So the project will continue and the deadline we are looking at is the end of September.

It makes both Araceli and I happy to know that we are helping a good school develop where they educate students who are then capable of competing for careers and making something of themselves.

Wow, that sounded like a commercial.

 

Timeyo and I in the makeshift pharmacy working away

It is now Sunday evening here and we have dubbed today Mexican day and are making fajitas.  Unfortunately we forgot to get the tequila, so no margaritas today.  But I do have to go  now and light up the barbeque.

I got caught up in the part and now it is Monday morning when I am posting this.
 

A Strange Series of Events

The last week here has been an unusual one because of how well events fell into place.

Last week, Araceli and I went and picked up a girl from school who we are sponsoring.  Upon returning to her home her mother was so gracious for what we were doing she gave us a goat.

Wow....cool, a goat.  I was pumped.  I couldn't wait to have a pet goat running around Kasese.

So we made our way back to Kasese and tied up the goat, with a long enough leash to go around grazing and such.

Days passed and the goat continued grazing.  We told people in the compound about how we were going to have a celebration on Friday for our country's independence.  We would have food and drinks and fun.

So everyone was getting ready for that.

On Monday I decided to go with one of the guys we were with here to pick up some river sand to till into our garden.  Along the way he was telling me about someone he knew who had banana trees.  Oh....really? 

 

Unloading the sand and banana trees

 

When we returned from getting the river sand we ended up unloading 4 banana trees.  We had to move fast and plant them in the garden.  It was quite an off-the-cuff situation but I could not find myself passing up some banana trees.

As the days passed we continued to work at Kasese, and as the week was drawing to a close we were becoming excited for the party.

Thursday morning rolled around and I had an idea.  I remember a recipe which my dad sent me a year or so ago called, "Goat in the Ground".  What an idea it would be.  We have a goat....we have ground.....lets put the goat in the ground.

 

Planting the new banana leaves

 

So I was convinced.  We prepared the goat to be put in the ground but there was a problem.  The foil which we were going to use to wrap the goat in was quite expensive so we had to find another solution....but what were we going to do?

As we sat around pondering this in the garden I looked up at my banana trees and it hit me.  I grabbed my friend and we ran back into the bush and pulled out about 25 banana leaves.

 

Wrapping the goat up in banana leaves

 

We marinated the goat and stuffed it full of vegetables.  We then proceeded to wrap it in multiple layers of banana leaves.  The recipe called for cooking the goat for about 12 hours in the ground so I waited until about 9:30 Thursday night to stick it in. 

I lit up the coals and let them burn red hot and then put the goat in and covered it up.

I have to say I did not sleep to well that night as I was worried if the goat was going to work out or not.

So Friday came and we all got to work.  As I was doing things in the compound I always kept my eye on the ground where the goat was, wondering how it was doing.

 

The goat/banana leaves right after being pulled from the fire

Finally 5:00 rolled around and it was time to pull the goat out.  And it was hot.  I picked up the banana leaves and they were smoking.

 

Pulling the goat apart

I ran to the house carrying the parcel in my hands and threw it onto the porch.

When I cut the ropes and pulled the leaves off I found the most tender goat I have seen.

We proceeded to cook the rest of the food and then cut up the goat.

We invited everyone over to Timeyo's house and then just had a good ole celebration.  We cooked some hamburgers and French fries along with the food and most of it got devoured.

As we ended the night I looked back on the previous 2 weeks and was quite happy with how things worked out.

So happy Independence Day to everybody.

 

Enjoying the feast

 

And a quick note, last week Louis Zamperini died.  There is a book out about him called Unbroken.  I would recommend to go pick up a copy and read it.