Daily life on the Plateau is full of excruciating difficulties and surprising joys, of heart-sinking news and unlooked for encouragement, of fatiguing demands and re-energizing reminders, of unknowns and “unexpecteds” and “figure it outs” of all kinds. There is some mundane, but little routine.
We would like to invite you into a glimpse of our day by day.
Over the next few weeks, we will post every weekday (or as near to it as we can get) with a picture or phrase that reflects our daily reality. It may be something that happened that day, or it may be an interesting fact about daily life. Whether short or long, we hope that each post will help you to better understand our context, our community, and our work.
So let’s get started! Right now, we are in a serious water crisis. In the midst of it, our development department has opened its gates to the community. For a minimal participation, they can come and get water at DDL for household use and to give their animals.
As you can see, the need is pretty desperate.
Here is the reality that has come to us day by day:
There has been no significant rainfall since October.
We lost our pump on the new well, because the water level dropped too low. We are currently waiting for a new pump with a lower gallon/minute rate.
The windmill pump on the other well is not functioning due to a mechanical break down.
The water holes have long been dry.
One of our water trucks is currently out of commission until it can be repaired. The other has three flat tires.
The tires were on their way today, and our driver had to stop on the road, because it is being blocked by rioters. (Who happen to burn tires…although, not ours, thankfully!)
Until those tires get here, we currently have no way to get more water.
Yet, despite the difficulties, here is what our Director of Development, Williamso, posted on Facebook:
In 2005, when it was so dry like this, I can remember having to walk 30 km a day on foot four days a week to save the animals. Today, we have calmed the problem, but it has not been solved.
…God has already given us the ability to solve the problem. And He says he is with us. Just have faith in Him.
I’m here to say let’s be encouraged and act on our strategy. There are many possibilities to combat this drought. Let’s join hands and make some huge catchments close to the ravine; let’s take care of what we already have; let’s take initiative and propose more solutions. We will get through this.
God is with us and we will continue to grow.
PS We will be posting our Day by Day on Instagram too, whenever possible. If you don’t already follow us, look us up under “lemuelministries.”