Water Report

Sue says:

Last week when we went for a walk, we saw staff members bathing in the river and washing and drying their clothes there. The nationals seemed to be adapting to our lack of water pretty cheerfully. We ex-pats seemed to be more agitated.

This week, with students and their families coming back for class, there are another 200 or so people using tank water. There is just enough rain (tank) water for drinking and cooking. Students and some staff line up at a central tank to haul water back to their homes. Clothes, dishes and bodies need to be washed in river water for many of the staff and students.  A few people have enough tank water for showering and washing dishes. 

Jeff and I got to see the our pumps yesterday. A small gas-powered motor that uses a liter of fuel per hour brings water up to a cistern in a pump house by the river. An employee has to manually refuel the motor every two hours. From there two pumps alternate sending water to one side of campus or the other. 

The river water doesn't flow for 12 hours at night. People keep buckets of water for dumping into the toilet tank to flush toilets. We reuse water from washing dishes and rinsing laundry.

As you can imagine, some people are getting sick from not treating river water properly. Please continue to pray that we will manage well, being grateful and willingly sharing what we have.