Gravity Water System

Sunday 26 May 2013
Gravity Water System

I was given the day off today.  A bicycle had been loaned to me by sister Mechtilda.  She is the plumber of the convent compound.  She told me she was excited to be taken away from her daily plumbing duties to give me a tour of the two surrounding villages the other day.  Her current plumbing job was to dig a ditch for a water line connecting the dispensary building to a new x-ray building under construction for the future hospital.  She left yesterday to take a trip to Dar es Salaam for a plumbing seminar.  She explained to me contractors were hired to drill bore holes for drinking water.  Without proper supervision, the drillers did not drill the bore holes deep enough, making the wells go dry as the water table decreases during the dry season.  The seminar in Dar es Salaam will educate her on how to make sure the drilling is done properly to ensure the wells are drilled deep enough to obtain water year round.  

During the several meals we ate together, sister Mech would help me with my Swahili while I helped her with her limited English.  For example, we were eating supper at 2100 Thursday night when she said “the day before tomorrow, I will go to Dar es Salaam for a plumbing seminar”.  She did not understand my laughter.  I began to explain to her the day before tomorrow is the same as the day after yesterday, or today.  She learned the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday.  She helped me with my numbers to 20 along with various eating utensils and table implements.

Sunday evening, I had a meeting with the mother general, the retired mother general and sister Senorina, the head counselor.  The convent compound has future plans of bringing in gravity fed piped water from the Udusungwa Mountains National Park, in the vicinity where their hydropower comes, but from a different river source.  The sisters showed me a three phase project which includes phase 1 of constructing the intake system and water treatment system, phase 2 of 250 mm piping 12 km to the convent and the villages, and phase 3 consisting of the distribution system.   Their costs for the 3 phases are US $910,000 of which they have asked for funding from various sources including the Rotary Club of Tanzania, other sister country Rotary Clubs and Rotary International.  

Prior to the meeting, I mentioned having teachers in the US who were familiar with grant writing to seek funding from the US government to fund humanitarian projects in developing nations.  They liked my ideas of possible alternate means of financial support to reach their intended fundraising goals.  Coming back to Tanzania to assist in the convent`s water engineering project could be a possibility after graduation as I pursue the Fulbright Scholarship.

Currently, there is no engineering project in Mbingu at the convent for me to volunteer with.  I decided to go back to Ifacara and volunteer with father Kayera with a wastewater drainage system the technical school is working on.  I am leaving Tuesday morning with Sister Senorina and six other nuns on the same treacherous road which took 2 hours 45 minutes for 36 miles of travel.  I had intended on volunteering at the orphanage again on Monday but the sister general said I could take the day off and do as I please.