#77 - suminam water well - completed successfully

12/12/2019

FOR ALL THOSE who DONATE into the MORE Water Project - we say Congratulations and WELL DONE (pun intended!). Through your donations and ours, there are people in Suminam who have a new water well. Here are the details of the project so you have a better idea of what all is involved in getting a water well completed. Every well is different and comes against different obstacles. THANK you for partnering with US through the MORE Water Project. We are ready for the next one!! Pictures below:

The Suminam water project one has been completed.

1. Project identified July 12, 2019.
2. Community application made Aug 17, 2019.
3. Project funded by MORE Water Project Aug 19, 2019.
4. Project completed November 6, 2019.
5. Well
a. 10 inch bore combined blade and hammer drill with air
b. 171 feet deep, 29 feet to static head, 70 feet to pump head
c. 6 inch casing
d. 3 9.5 ft screens
e. 34 bags of gravel pack
f. water taste is excellent
g. sand and silt present in water which should clear with use
h. driller required to drill two holes as the first one was not productive
i. drill scheduled five times before road was dry enough to use.
j. rains delayed pump platform pours
k. rains delayed pump setting
l. rains delayed well dedication
6. General Info
a. Road repair was a continuous burden on the farmers as they repeatedly had to repair due to heavy rains. Their tenacity was the key to access for the drillers, those making deliveries and messengers.
b. From August 14th to November 6th Suminam had eleven rain free days and only one three day stretch of rain free days. It was the window used by the drillers. Although rain is common during this time, it was exceptionally heavy this year. We should consider waiting for the dryer December through February for other Suminam area projects. Farmers have indicated that they will hand build two bridges for access to deeper Suminam villagers.
c. This project was the first well to be drilled in the Suminam area. Difficulty of access has limited driller ability to move equipment in and out.
d. Well serves 26 farms.
e. More wells are needed in Suminam due to its widely scattered population. Distance to the first bore hole is more than thirty minutes walk for several farms.
We have completed well projects in as little as three weeks. This one took three months. I know this project has suffered from multiple delays that may have discouraged you. Most of these were caused by an unusually heavy rainy season. There were long stretches of time when nothing happened. But that was not the only reason for delays. The road, if you can call it that, was almost impassable for heavy equipment even when dry. Additionally, African culture runs slow no matter how hard it is pushed. This is especially true among the entrenched traditional rural peoples which are the focus of Therefore. They view any change with suspicion and resist it. These people have been exploited so much that they believe no one comes to them except to profit at their expense. The developed world runs on a schedule at bitcoin speed and pushes for faster and faster living always. Change is viewed with eagerness and embraced. Understanding between these two worlds can be a frustratingly difficult process that very few choose to attempt and even fewer find success at. Therefore missionaries serve as bridge builders between these two worlds in the hope that love will cross. I hope that through our experience together we can look at what God has done and rejoice in His pleasure.
What did God do? He connected a forgotten group of oppressed impoverished African cocoa farmers who have absolutely no voice to a successful Australian couple who desire to share hard earned funding for clean water development. A people that wake up when roosters crow, have no electricity, drink water from a stream that flows through the rot of a malaria infested jungle are now forever connected to Marius and Wendy Landman. Your reach has penetrated through walls of poverty that no other human being had ever penetrated. The testimony of your love has crossed the bridge and made it possible for Therefore to have 18 visits with these people throughout these three months of delays. On the morning of November 6th, 2019, dozens of Suminam men, women and children heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. We can rejoice. Jesus is worthy of our obedience. Let us praise Him for the opportunities to love in His name. God is good, all the time!
We will try to send you some full files of select photos and one unedited video when we get to town later today. The internet speed here is just too slow for the attempt. May God richly bless each of you

Blessings,

Joey and Patti Romero/Missionaries to West Africa