Wata!

Last week WMT set out on a new adventure.....well drilling! We've been anxiously awaiting our well drilling equipment that was brought over by the medical team that came last month....and last week we started our first well! The unique thing about this well drilling process is that it's done completely by hand. So you don't have to bring over a big well drilling machine and can easily get the equipment to rural, hard to reach places. This first well we drilled was a "for profit" well for an NGO (non-governmental organization) nearby. Using this technique, you can drill a well for a significantly lower price than a lot of other methods. Our plan is to drill some "for profit" wells and use the profits to fund well drilling for poorer communities who can not afford to pay for a well. It also gives us an opportunity to train Sierra Leoneans in the process so they can eventually take over. So this was our test run......the maiden voyage.

Getting started: X marks the spot

A tripod with a pully system is used to manage moving the heavy equipment around

The well is drilled using a bore hole method and it is all done by hand. Different soils/rock require different tools.

We started off cruising, digging several feet every couple of minutes. John was very excited!Then we hit some rock. John was not very excited. We were stuck for about 5 1/2 hours and thought we might have to pull out and start somewhere new BUT......we made it through!

Then John was very happy again!(Sorry, no picture of him being really happy).

And after five days we had water!!!

The plan is to place a solar pump as well and treat the water using UV rays. It's all completely over my head. My job was to document the adventure and serve as the anchor to keep the big metal poles in place while they were pounding around down there. (After a minor accident in which the tripod fell down and hit Chad's car. We realized the importance of the "safety zone" after that! All in all, not a bad way to spend the week! :)