On to Zambezi
Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:39
Victor almost dies, Zambezi moves forward, and Collins is farming.
Having not heard from Victor for some time, my worrying was vindicated when he finally emailed to say that he had some sort of central nervous system collapse. He was in terrible pain in all his joints, and he could not walk or move around. He did what most Zambians in that situation do, he went to bed until he got better. Not all of them get better, of course, but we lucked out with Victor.
With the Mansa training completed, we are now turning our attention to Zambezi. Victor and Paul will be meeting the Gonzaga University team headed by Josh Armstrong in Zambezi the first week of June. Victor and Paul will spend 2 weeks training the folks in Mise Village in the installation of waterless toilets, water purification, and rocket and solar stoves. We are trying to get someone from the Department of Agriculture to come along to help train other Mise villagers in how to establish a village banking system, but that is still in the works.
We are all hoping Fr. Dominic will be able to join them, at least for awhile.
Zambezi is one of the most remote spots in Zambia, and one must really want to go there. It is a 2 day trip by bus from Lusaka! We also have 3 waterless toilets and supplies that need to get there, so we are having a transportation challenge in lining up a truck. Mise is across the Zambezi River from the town of Zambezi. And the truck will have to be taken across on a hand powered ferry. Perhaps the crocs will help push.
Victor and Paul are looking forward to working with the kids from Gonzaga on training the Mise villagers in skills to improve their lives. Because the water table is so high, traditional latrines to not work. Our EcoDome toilets are totally isolated from the soil, so they are perfect for this application, although Victor is dreading the design work needed to keep them from popping up out of the ground when the water rises!
Collins is hard at work on the farm. I hope to have an update from him soon.