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

Day 11: Materials

Sitting around the breakfast table this morning over tea and lemongrass-milk we certainly didn't expect the exhausting day that followed. What a day, “gee-mah-nee” as Matt would say.

First thing, we drove to Bolga to visit the bank and source a few items. These few items turned into a truck filled with the entire solar array support structure and 45 lengths of PVC pipe. The truck driver was a nice man, that patiently tried to translate the labels on the broken cassette tapes from the passenger side door, that I obnoxiously began reading aloud. He also explained to Matt and I how rice and tomatoes were grown in the region between Bolga and Sirigu. The water comes from a large reservoir nearby, and they sow seeds in a small area and transplant them into the fields later.

Kate, Max, and Moses remained in Bolga to find some extra supplies as Matt and I went to pick up the support structure. We went to the welding yard with Henry, our technician, to get it. They were still working on it when we arrived, so we watched fascinated at the resourceful welding techniques used to make the remaining holes in the frame. What a place! A fury of metal, heat, and wires.

Once we arrived in Yua, the workers balanced the holes in the ground to exactly match the dimensions of this large beastly metal frame. We supported it to stand up through the night, but could not cast the concrete footings as we had planned, as there just wasn't enough sunlight. This was slightly disappointing since we needed the time for the concrete to cure enough before much more construction could continue. So we agreed to pour the concrete the following morning and install the solar panels on Saturday.

What was most interesting, was that in the Yua market near where our work was being done a large bus was being filled with goats, pigs, chicken, and guinea fowl to be brought to Kumasi that night. How they fit so many goats in such a small space on the roof of this vehicle, within it, and underneath in the cargo, is beyond me. It was most definitely an acquired art, a long and careful process. How loud it was too, the goats scream like children, and the squealing of pigs was deafening as they were dragged across the ground and into several pairs of hands that would lift them up and onto the top of the bus. A village girl who is around 18, Edna, sat with me as we watched all this go down, the English she learned in school wasn't enough to sustain a good conversation and my Fra Fra is far from useable but talking with her was nice all the same. Our driver, Phillip, also came over and told me that he was going to drive the bus all the way to Kumasi and back because the current driver was sick. He told me he was going to do this so that he could have enough money to marry Edna. I believed him, and really wish the language barrier didn't make jokes so difficult to catch on to.

Anna

Day 10: Community Meeting

A community meeting was held today. We discussed with the community elders what the expectations of these projects are and looked for approval and input from them. The meeting went well and we came to several agreements on where the first drip irrigation system will be placed and how the water plaza/solar array will be maintained and fixed. We also discussed the need for a way to shade the Polytank in the water plaza from the sun and the possibility of a mechanical pump. The community in general seemed enthusiastic about our plans, and we hope that this joint enthusiasm will provide the teamwork we need to make this project a success. Pok also urged the community to take advantage of our assistance while we are here and do their part to take responsibility for what we are providing. He also advised us that we shouldn't get the expectations of the community too high at this time, but instead should focus on planning for future projects after we have successfully gotten the water plaza to work again and the test drip irrigation system built.

Pok also explained that we were like the lifting of a bucket to the knee that the community must raise up themselves (a local proverb). The Chief himself spoke that he was very thankful that we have come, but expressed concern for families in Yua to be able to monetarily contribute to a fund to support any repairs of the water plaza. An extensive amount of Fra Fra ensued among the people within the meeting, especially Pok and Moses. The community agreed that a bank account would be a plausible plan, and Pok mentioned later that the produce from the drip irrigation systems could also be sold to support this fund.

The elders were such a focused group of people, who truly care about the well being of the people within Yua. It is our hope that they are not afraid to express their opinions with us and give all the input possible. Matt and Kate emphasized the need for their communication with the drip irrigation. That they are the farmers and know this land best, therefore what they make of our system will determine how well it works.

I have to say, the atmosphere of these meetings is a wonderful change to the school settings we are accustomed to. Around us children were playing along with goats, pigs, and chickens running about. The warm breeze under the shade of the tree, simply brilliant!

Anna