Mission Trip 2006
Good Things Come in Small Packages
by Paul Nollen
Installing pumps and dedicating wells gets to be rather routine by
the middle of your tour of duty in Malawi. However, now and then something happens to
shake you up a bit and tell you others appreciate what you are doing in the Shallow Well
Program of Marion Medical Mission.
Tuesday, October 3rd started out as an ordinary day for me with the well team working out
of Mzuzu. After breakfast with Jodi and Jim McGill (mission co-workers with the Synod of
Livingstonia, Church of Central Africa Presbyterian--CCAP) and their kids, I drove
downtown to the CCAP motor pool, where well materials are stored, to load up for the day.
Mr. Silungwe, Field Officer for the Mzuzu area, and Custom Inglui, a well worker and
driver from Mzuzu, helped me load materials for 10 wells. By 7:15 a.m. we were on the main
road to Ekwendeni. There we turned off on secondary roads to the area north and east.
Along the way to the first well, we picked up local well workers and arrived at our first
well at 9:15. |
Paul Nollen
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The second well was nearby and we unloaded materials in the village that
sponsored the well. There a lady on the local well committee came out of her house to
greet us and then accompanied us to the well site with a covered basket on her head. I
usually ask the local people how far it is to the well, so I can take my water canteen
along if it is some distance away. This time I forgot to ask and assumed it was a short
walk. In the heat of the day this was a serious lapse in memory.
We walked through an upland area, then descended into a dry river bed, and 20 minutes
later we were at the well site near the river bank. Along the way we had passed the
village's present water supply-two holes about 4 feet deep dug in the river bed with a
little dirty water in them. At the well site, the water level was deeper than anticipated
and required more PVC pipe. Someone volunteered to walk back to the truck to get the
needed part,probably a 2-mile round trip. In the meantime, we put together the pump and
sat in the shade waiting for the worker to return. By this time I was extremely thirsty
and kicking myself for not bringing along my canteen. Then the lady from the village
unwrapped her basket, which she had carried all that way on her head. Behold, it contained
cokes for all the workers to drink. What a treat that was for me!! Even though the coke
was warm, it was wet and it slaked my thirst. What a caring person our village friend
turned out to be!!
It was a small gesture and my thirst probably was not life-threatening, but this shows how
caring our Malawian friends can be and how much they appreciate a reliable source of clean
water. You never know what a day of welling will be like.
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