Digging the Well! Digging the Well! Digging the Well, hey, hey, hey, hey!

So for the past 7 days I have been in the BUSH of Nakor digging two wells.  God has blessed me with this experience and it has been great to spend time with God in a primitive environment. Here are some pictures that highlight some of the past week. It’s only a small sample, but I hope you enjoy! Oh yeah, the Cat Daddy made it to Africa!!

This is Todd and I by the river that flows through Nakor. To get to the area where we dig wells you must cross this river. Because it had rained recently, on Saturday it was up to our mid thighs and by 7 days later it was down below out ankles. The water in this river is muddy. People drink this dirty water, which is why there is need for wells to provide clean drinking water.

This is the basic layout of the well. The tripod supports the metal poles that go down through the casing to dig the underneath clay, sand, and soil. The casing must go down and have 20 feet of water surrounded by it, so that the well can be continuously pumped and sustained. The garden that provided food for the area is in the back left. The well provides water so the people can grow better food for a balanced diet, which improves their standard of living.

This is my first learning experience of trying to dig a well. Akai is the field boss who is helping me. We work in teams of two. Akai is very comical and he loves to sing, "Digging the well, digging the well, digging the well, hey, hey, hey, hey," while we are digging down. Oh yeah, he has a very Yoda like voice to go with his 6'3'' stature, which makes his singing very entertaining.

We were able to witness our first sheep slaughter ( I have a video of the whole thing). The guy in the yellow hat later drank the blood. This is the true Africa, unedited and uncut, raw and real. We later ate almost every part of the sheep from the fatty tail to its head. Every part was eaten and the skin was sold.

The crew gets a break from 1 to 3 everyday and the disappeared two days in a row and would come back with fish, so one day we got to experience this for ourselves. Turkana are amazing fishermen. A fish would swim down the muddy river and then everyone would take off after it; it was a team effort. Once they were close, they would shove their nets into the water and try to trap it along the bottom. Some were skilled enough to just wait in the water and as a fish swam by, they would just grab it with their hands. They looked like crocodiles lurking in the water. After the catch they just throw the fish up onto the muddy bank and then move on to the next target. Two days in a row they came back with 20 plus fish to eat! Primitive fishing actually happens!

Finally, I got to experience fishing for myself. Before we went Akai warned us abuot dangerous 3 horned catfish because they will cut you and bite. Todd and I didn't believe they existed because the other guys in the crew only caught Nile Perch. So we began our fishing adventure and trying to chase down fish. I chased and ran all over that river, down and up. I was exhausted after 40 minutes of fishing and in minute 39 I finally got one. I shoved down my net and almost freaked out because I had no idea what to do now. A small boy came over reached into the basket and then bit the fish 3 times. I had no idea why, but then...he showed me the fish. It was a 3 horned Nile Catfish!