Silembe, Zambia | Update January 2008

We also receive the following update from Mike in the last week of January:

Hey Scott,

Just got back from the orphanage. Didn't take pictures because not much change from last time. My guys didn't start the 2nd house walls because they didn't have rebar and didn't have "talk time" to send me the message.

The new septic tank continues to be on hold due to the volume of water moving through the ground. They bailed it out several times, but the water comes back much too fast. We are on a slope, so I expect a week or so without rain will stop the under ground flow enough for us to build.

From the beginning, I've contemplated building a pit latrine to be used as a backup. Sooner or later problems will arise with the pump. I decided we should go ahead and build a pit latrine to be used until the septic tank can be completed and as a backup for the flushing toilets. The costs are minimum (probably less than $200.00). It should be built in less than a week, and meet the requirements for toilets needed to open the orphanage (although we already have the OK from the health people). I've picked out a uniquely beautiful place. We have an ant hill covered with trees near the houses. Pit toilets are often built on ant hills because the digging is easy, but I've never seen one hidden by lush trees and shrubs. I should have pictures next week.

The cloudy water was not caused by debris. After letting the water sit over night, nothing settled to the bottom. My limited knowledge of clear water comes from my experience with swimming pools. Whenever our pool water was cloudy we added acid and the water cleared. I'm not going to put acid in our water. Since our well has such a small volume of water, I expect it to clear as the rainy season goes and the water levels go down. Fortunately, we don't have anything around to pollute the underground water. The well is cased and sealed to the pump and concrete. Our people are using the water for everything and say they can not tell of any difference. I've drank the water myself and thought it was fine. Linda and Sheri say they can detect a slight difference in taste. Linda doesn't like the looks and drinks bottled water. I'm sure she will buy a lot of bottled water for your group, unless it clears up before.

I saw the headman before leaving today. He saw Chief Nyawa last week. The Chief told him he had a paper from the Kazungula District Council clearly stating that our orphanage is approved. He was very surprised to learn we didn't have the permit. I got a text message from our district councilor today. He told me to meet him on the 5th in Livingstone and he'd go with me to Kazungula to get the permit. I replied with questions he has not answered. We only have to do the permit thing one time. If the chief wasn't so hard to contact during rainy season (I got stuck last year in the Landcruiser going to see him) he would have already pushed the council our way. I still believe it will happen within a couple of weeks.

Leaving at 3:30am tomorrow for Kasama.

God Bless,
(Mike)