In efforts to give this community a more reliable water source, we (SAIWI) first attempted a well in June of 2010 using a small mechanical drill. We started with the mechanical well because of the anticipated hard rock that others have found in the area. After a week of drilling through rock with little progress, we found a sandy site closer to the river but higher than flood overflows would reach and had much better progress. The mechanical mishaps that we encountered with the drill and the truck that we were borrowing slowed us down and during the last week our hole collapsed. We realized that the PVC that we has bought to case the well was not thick enough. Scrambling last minute, we installed two rain catchment tanks on a local community center/church near by.
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A group went back last year to attempt the well using the Manual Method developed by Terry Waller and volunteers of Water For All International and ran into some time-devouring issues as well. This time the problems stemmed from drill parts breaking and falling into the hole...which then needed to be fished out. With long days and hard work, this group drilled about 30 feet, through at least 15+ feet through solid rock.
All in all,these last two years have been great learning experiences about the trials and tribulations of working in Kenya as well as the incredible resourcefulness, patience, and optimism of the our hosts, Peter and volunteers of International Development Missions.
And so....with the help of SAIWI's former president, Arica Crootof, Kayla Berry and I are joining Cathy Fitzgerald to see if we can finally complete this well!
