NO RAIN - WEEK #1

This has been a very hard 1st week this trip. First of all it is extremely hot and dry, which has made it very uncomfortable without A/C. We feel our age once again! Also it has been difficult adjusting to the time change. We awake every night at 3:00AM and are unable to go back to sleep. Another sign that our body clock is slowing down! Despite these inconveniences, the main problem has been the problems we have faced at the village. Immediately upon arriving we were met with a chorus of complaints over the lack of water. As you might remember, we had a deep water pump installed last year, which was to help insure the villagers there would be adequate water in the dry season. Apparently the pump broke down and the villagers tried to repair it without calling the installer, which of course negated the warranty. The cost to repair the pump is $300.00 and of course they have waited on our return hoping we will pay for the repair of their pump. We have informed them that this is now their responsibility and we can not keep bailing them out every time something bad goes wrong. Sounds a lot like raising children! We have offered to pay our share which amounts to $5.00 if you divide the cost by the number of houses. We'll see where this goes next week. Currently there is very little water in the wells, and many of the villagers are once again having to stay with other family in the area that have an adequate water supply, or they are having to walk over a mile to get water. We are staying elsewhere, which was not our plan! Please pray for much needed rain!