Day 7 (May 25)

Contributed by: Danielle

Today was a full day and our first one back in Yua!

In the morning we put on our best and went to church. The church was packed, people were spilling out of the doorway and gathered around the windows, peering in to watch the action. Today all the churches in the area gathered together to celebrate Corpus Cristi jointly. Even though we were late we were welcomed in and ushered to one of the benches inside. After a few songs the speaker asked us to stand. He greeted and thanked us for our presence in English and explained to the rest why we had come to the area, which was followed by applause. The rest of the service was given in FraFra, however, because it was a catholic church some of us understood the prayers being spoken. The service was full of singing and impressive joy, everyone stood for the songs and most danced along in the pews. After the service, we took part in a large precession to the market and back.

Later, we enjoyed a breeze with cokes and cookies under a mango tree and finally met Mr. Bernard Adongo, our driller. Mr. Adongo is a strong and confident man who also serves as a preacher in a church nearby. As we talked over the details of the borehole placement Adongo assured us that in fact he “does not drill dry boreholes.” He was so certain on his abilities that he explained he would take on the financial responsibility if the borehole should be dry. We were extremely satisfied with this as a dry borehole usually comes at a steep cost to the costumer.

Together with Pok and Adongo we traveled to Yua. My belly was shaking with excitement as we came into town and the faces I remembered began to line the road. Some of them shouted, “Yua!” to us as we passed. I chanted this to them during my speech last year and it was a compliment to see that it had stuck.

We arrived and Adongo pointed to the first spot he had chosen, about 30 meters to the east of the market, it was marked by a large stone. The stone was in the middle of a sizable field that had been made into perfect rows. Although it was very dry, green leaves persevered through the dirt. Mussa, the owner of the land, was among those now gathering to greet us. He explained to me that this was his land and made it clear he was happy to donate it for the plaza. We all took a photo at this spot and then moved on to another possible location for the borehole that Adongo had selected nearby. This one had lost its marker so Adongo demonstrated his dowsing skills of which we all had the opportunity to try. No one had much success detecting water, however, Jared played a joke on the community that he did. He pretended that he had detected so much water that the dowsing stick went out of control and hit him smack in the forehead- it was a successful comedy. After a short discussion and spontaneous vote of those community members present, it became clear that the first location was the best. With that settled, we drove to the clinic where Adongo located a great site that everyone was content upon. While there, we had the chance to talk to some women and elders who danced and sang a sweet welcoming song for us before we left.

We moved back to Afrikids place, collected our things and moved to SWOPA (Sirigu Women's Organization for Pottery and Arts) where our reservations were being held. SWOPA is a cooperative guest-house and successful income-generating project for local women. Each guest-house is built and painted in the tradition style and comes fashioned with two beds, bookshelf, mosquito net, and fan. There is one self contained room and the rest share bathroom and shower facilities. Staying here allows us to show our support for a great local project while being very close to Yua.

Contributed by: John Campbell

Yesterday, Joe invited us to go to church. We were unsure that we should because of all the preparation we need to do for the project. We haven’t bought a lot of the stuff that we need for both the projects. Joe insisted that we come because today was Corpus Christi. We all got ready and headed off in the van with Benjamin, (the driver, who is awesome. He is always so jolly, and wears sun glasses all the time. We are not even sure that he has eyes, but he is always wearing a smile). We went to breakfast at little stand in Sirigu. The place looked a little sketchy but the breakfast was excellent. They made these egg sandwiches that were awesome. So far this little place was my most favorite food. We were almost late as we rolled up to the church and there was a crowd outside of the church. Joe had told us that there were two services, and so I assumed that the first service was not quite out yet. We got out, walked up to the building, and as we did, you could hear the rhythmic beat of drums. We waited outside for about five minutes while David went in and soon we were escorted inside and were sat down in a completely empty row (in hind site they must have cleared some people out to make room which didn’t make me happy but what can you do). The place was packed. The first service was finished and the second had already started. There were probably 400 people inside and at least that many outside of the church. The worship music was absolutely incredible. Because of the holiday, there were people representing the seven villages in the eastern corridor and each village had there own section to lead worship. This consisted of only percussion instruments (mostly drums, but there were a variety of shaker style instruments as well) and people singing. Most of the women and some of the men also were dancing at their seat. I couldn’t help but start to dance a little, but had to restrain myself. We stuck out already, and I didn’t want to draw too much attention. Beside the music, the service was a traditional catholic service held partly in Fra Fra and partly in English. After the service, there was a parade and each band and its singers lined up for the march. There were seven groups all playing different songs and marching in the parade. There must have been at least a thousand people there. It was incredible. After the parade we went to Yua for the first time. As we drove there the people seemed to be more welcoming that the other villages we went through (which I didn’t really think was possible). Almost every person we drove by was waving and some were running along side of our van. As we pulled in to the market (Yua is pretty small so the market isn’t big at all) we got out and greeted all the elders that were there and everyone that came up. We met Adongo, the well driller to check out the two possible well sites. We went to the first possible site and it was marked with a stone. We then went to the second spot, and the marking had been moved. Adongo the called for a “dowsing” tool, and David got him a forked stick. The then walked back and forth and the stick seemed to rise when he got over a certain point. I couldn’t believe my eyes! This is how a hydro geologist picks a well site! John Yatsko wanted to try and Adongo said that he had to have type A blood, and Yatsko said he did. He walked back and forth for what seemed like a half an hour and couldn’t get it. The whole thing seemed a little hokey pokey to me, but Jared assures me that there are all sorts of accredited journals on the topic. I still don’t know, but I won’t say that there is no way it could work, it just seems EXTREAMLY unlikely. After that we went back to AfriKids to get some dinner. We ate on the roof (because it was cooler) and that is the end to a very great and long day!