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Friday, January 16, 2009

Frogs, sand and a pump.

So, a few weeks ago we had a nice little frog do a very not nice thing: he/she crawled up into the pump and got stuck in there and died! The stench was incredible. Apparently this has happened before, and so the guys knew how to take the pump cover off and take out Dead Mr. Toad. We also found a bunch of sand in there, and a little spoon....sand+spoon+42 kids=suspicion.
Once things were back together, the pump was not putting out much water for the amount of work it was taking. So, we got a hold of Blue Ridge(a Mennonite mission here in Haiti who do a lot of wonderful work with wells) and asked them to come. They managed to squeeze us into their schedule and in a few days arrived to see what the problem was.

Zach and Charles, the guys from Blue Ridge, soon discovered that a piece of what reminded me of rebar had broken off inside the pipes, just below where they could reach it with some hand tools. So, in order to be able to get their big rig in there by the pump, the guys had to do some incredible work with a machete to cut off a bunch of branches hanging over the pump. I have NEVER seen the power of a machete like that before....gave me some respect for them!

Pulling the first piece of pipe up...I have no idea if it's even called pipe...or for that matter any of the other names for any parts/tools/machinery related to fixing a well!! So, for those of you who actually do know, please be kind and just smile and nod!!


These trucks are just amazing! Can't think of another time when I've been more thankful for hydraulics! It's kind of a funny feeling when you are personally so impacted by the same thing that you think about affecting others less fortunate than yourself! I am SO incredibly thankful for our well, in a way I really appreciate having a new outlook!

The first piece of pipe came out looking great. The next two had a lot of eyebrows going up! Some parts were almost rusted right through!
And then they found a sandbox in the cylinder. The child with the sand and the spoon really pulled a good one. The guys were fairly confident that the sand was what had broken the piece of rebar that had initially stopped the pump from working. So we had some little conversations with the kids and with the nannies responsible for them....never a dull moment!!
But, it all worked out. There was gonna be some significant issues with those rusty pipes in the near future, so perhaps Dead Mr.Toad and the sand child did us a favour after all!

Zach and Charles:Thanks so much for being such a blessing to so many in Haiti!!






2 comments:

kayder1996 said...

Oh my goodness! I bet the kids were just enthralled to watch all of that. I can just see their big eyes!

Unknown said...

yeah for Zach and Charles...HCH without the handpump...yikes..don't take me there