2 more water projects

When we showed up for the closing ceremony for this Village Water Project we were greeted by flowers being thrown on top of our heads. We walked through an archway that had been decorated with local flowers.

This is one of about 10 water stations throughout the village. Technically it is called a tap stand. It was decorated for our ribbon-cutting ceremony. I along with some of the local dignitaries got to cut the ribbon.

Most Village Water projects also having and accompanying latrine project. Cheryl had the privilege of cutting the ribbon for the toilet.

Here are two of The Village Elders demonstrating water use.

The entire Village was in attendance for the closing ceremonies. Cheryl and I got to speak through an interpreter.

Here are some of the local school children. They are also very grateful for the water system. The children many times are the ones that have to retrieve the water. Often they're late for school because of the time involved to get the water.

The lady on the left is is 60 years old and the lady on the right is 45. They speak only the local Village dialect. They cannot read or write. Because the number of people that speak their dialect is so small there are no newspapers or books that are written. They cannot understand anything on the radio or television or the internet. They are very isolated from the world.

Prior to the new water system the younger lady would retrieve water from one to three times a day depending upon her tasks. The round-trip for water collection would take 3 hours for each trip. Needless to say her life is very different now. She now has time to grow a garden.

Because the village is spread out each household previously had different distances and routes that they took to collect water. Some of the houses that were closer to the ocean would walk down to the ocean, get in a canoe and paddle to where the stream met the ocean and then collect their water there. Others would just walk over trails to go to the stream.

Because most of the water is collected downstream it was often polluted by animals that drink it. The new water system gets their water from springs at the water source and so avoids lots of the sources of pollution. Still the water is not pure and households are taught to boil the water before they drink it.

This is one of the water tanks for one of the two Villages that we visited. Both of the water systems are gravity-fed and do not need any a pumps which is good because only one of the two Villages had electricity.

As gifts they gave Cheryl a small purse and me a small tote bag. We received ceremonial ties to go around our neck. Our bags were filled with green leaves and some sort of large seed. Also in the bags were some tobacco and some white powder. The villagers were sprinkling the white powder on the leaves and eating the leaves with the powder and seeds in them. We have not been brave enough to try it yet. The white powder is not a drug.

The school children gathered to sing a song as part of the ceremony.

They had a dance and they asked Cheryl to join in.

The entire day seems surreal. It's hard to believe that there are people living that have no electricity and up until recently no close by water. As with every trip we make to the rural districts we come away so grateful for what we have.

Some of our English students teaching a basic English class in one of the nearby villages. They will be using our PowerPoint program. We gave them some teacher training.

Janu and Zelia are our teachers aides for English class. They are very helpful because they translate for us and take care of lots of duties like the roll and announcements. Every few months we take them out to dinner as a token of our gratitude. Their favorite place is Burger King.

In the evening along the main street in Dili chickens are for sale