Sunday-- Construction Day!!

Since we had planned to attend Mass at 8am at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church (our partners) we had breakfast earlier than usual.  As usual we had beans (and they were good) and rather than eggs this morning- we had a large pancake.  Our cook provided a smallish bottle of syrup which we used liberally, not knowing that it was all she had.  The Texas part of the team ate before the Virginians arrived.  YEA!  HOORAY!  HALLELUJAH!   The system is HERE!  We were thrilled to see them and the boxes of parts they brought across country yesterday and on the panga this morning.  After breakfast, we went back to our rooms to dress for church.  This was so unlike any Catholic service I've ever attended.  We had scripture readings by lay people, we had  singing, and an offering.  No "lesson/homily" but one of our group spoke for a minute about our project.

I haven't mentioned Justin-- he's a little boy who attached himself to me when we were doing art on Saturday afternoon.  He asked me if we'd be doing art on Sunday and I told him we all needed to stay out of the installers' way today because we were going to try to get as much of the water system finished as possible.  He asked me when we were leaving and I told him Monday afternoon.  He asked where I'd be on Sunday and I said at church.  He asked if he could come sit with me and that's exactly what he did.  He sat between me and Marjory and I'm not sure he'd ever been there before.  It was sweet of him to join us.

Henry and Wavel

The church service was over about 9 and again folks went to change clothes, and the installation of the system began in earnest.  Yovett's two workers on her system in Pearl Lagoon, Henry and Wavel came with Bill and Steve (from Va) and they were an invaluable help.

Not only do they have an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the system and its maintenance, but they "speak the same language" as the folks on Oninoco.  They all speak English, but it is with a Creole sort of dialect that changes vowel sounds.  for instance Harry is said Hurry.  Many of their vowels are "ER", rather than the way we say them.  They also clip off the final sound of a word such as water becomes watah, brother becomes brothah, sister=sistah.   If we speak slowly they have no problem understanding us, and they read English, which is a plus; but when they speak fast, we're lost.  Many times I had to ask someone to repeat something, so I could figure out what they were saying.  There was an electrician working with the Orinoco team that none of our folks were able to understand.

I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible from the construction area.

 While this was happening, I packed up the teaching supplies that the Orinioco teachers will use with the community.  We bring them in a "throw-away" suitcase that is donated by someone in the church which we leave there to keep everything together.  Therefore our load is lightened greatly when we return.

Before- side sagging

Having packed the supplies, Marjory and I took the paper strips for the "daisy chain" and put them together --usually used as decorations for the celebration at the end of a project .  We didn't have a celebration planned because we had no idea how far along the construction would get in the time we had left.  The plan was to have OUR celebration when we return for the one year visit.  We make these decorations in case they have a dedication of the system when Fr. Tony (their itinerant priest) comes back from his rounds visiting his 28 churches.  I left the dedication posters with Simon, who is in charge of the church when the Priest is gone.  Hopefully they will dedicate and post the information on the walls of the water room.  We also took Living Water for the World embroidered caps for the water committee, operators and teachers.  I hope Simon will give them out to the people he feels should have them.

after the repair- no bulging at the side

The "raw water" (straight out of the well) tank was set up on cement blocks set like  3 spokes.  Hard to explain, but the tank was larger around than the base it sat on, when the water was filling the tank, it started lapping over the edge of the blocks kinda like a water balloon.  It wasn't going to work that way, so the tank was empties back into the well and a couple of guys made a more stable base for the  600 gallon tank.  Work progressed in the water room with so many workers that they were sometimes bumping into each other.    When they stopped for lunch, the system seemed to be about 1/4 done.

By 5 o'clock, the system was ready to test.  two very small leaks were found and repaired.  The system was shocked (clorine added) and it had to sit for awhile  After supper, the final check for leaks was done and everything seems sound.  Without the assistance of our extra people, Yovett and her crew, this installation could not have been done.  Many thanks to them and to Yovett.  The usual "correct" way to do an installation is slowly, explaining the process to the people who will be operating and guiding them through the putting together of the parts.  The local folks MUST know how to take care of it, maintain it, and when needed repair it.  We didn't skip this step with the operators  in Orinoco, they were given a crash course as it was built, and on Monday morning, after all was working,  the folks from Pearle Lagoon explained it to them more and they are relatively nearby in case they get in a bind.