Day 12: Concrete and Drip

More time at our beloved work site, the water plaza. Watching the workers mix the concrete was a great thing to see. They mixed the sand, rock, and cement in a large pile in the middle of the four dug holes, then made a large hole in the middle, and poured water in. To me it almost looked like a mountain of mashed potatoes with gravy, as they continued to work the sides of the mixture into the water being careful not to let the liquid contents spill out. It did take a while to agree on a proper cement/sand/stone ratio, but with John Yatzko's words in mind and Matt's wonderful skills at compromising, a workable ratio was decided on. How cement is utilized here is just simply different I suppose, trying to understand this was a little difficult. The workers did wonderfully, and I am very thrilled to be learning from them what I can. All their work is voluntary, a contribution to the betterment of their community, a taking of responsibility for what is being created.

The beginning of drip also continued today, led by Kate. She spoke with the workers about the general plans and had them get familiar with the materials. They explained to us what they planned to use it for, which would be tomatoes, and how far apart the plant spacings would be, along with any other ideas they had. They had several suggestions, but we couldn't begin testing until we acquired more materials and tools.

I've also had the pleasure of meeting three more of Phillip's wives today, and yes I am catching on to this new humor. Silly Phillip.

We then also met a guy named Steve from New York who is traveling through the area and staying with Akunz's family in Yua. He joined us this evening as we went into Sirigu for the big Youth Celebration. What I managed to gather was that this was a celebration of heritage and the youth of the communities in the area. There were many speakers and periodically a group of older women in similar traditional dresses would dance for everyone in the middle of this large congregation of people. The dancers would be different each time and would represent each community. Sirigu itself is made up of five communities, and Yua six. It was a fun time, a charming social event. Moses spent most of the time wandering around catching up with old school friends, while Kate, Max, Matt, and I made new ones. Luiza found Kate and I in the crowd and surprised us. Luiza, whom I formally met earlier this week on a bike ride into Sirigu was the singer during Christmas mass Saturday night, the one that sang the twelve days of Christmas at one o'clock  in the morning. We had peeled onions together that day and she tried to explain to me how to make FuFu. It really is wonderful to begin recognizing the faces and personalities of the people here, and being recognized ourselves as individuals as well.  

Anna