New Experiences For All

This morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m. thinking that it was 2:30 in the afternoon somewhere near Paidha.  People may be getting fresh water.  There were about 100 people watching and waiting expectantly as the well was being dug.  People were dancing, singing praises to Jesus, and preaching.  A woman was showing her Bible to another woman, reading from it.  It appeared that some may be hearing about Jesus and accepting Him as their savior.  At times the joy seemed overwhelming to a white man not accustomed to this outpouring of hearts - so glad to be a part of it.  By the end of the day, after the third attempt, a new well was dug and was being completed - only 11 feet deep, producing plenty of water!  What a blessing - the spring box they had been getting water from produced only about 3/4 gallon per minute (I guess that's slow), taking about 6 minutes to fill one jeri can (5 gallons).  There were over 300 homes using this one source of water.

At the market place purchasing materials, some children screamed in terror at seeing a white-skinned man for the first time!  "If I were not scaring them so badly, it might be funny.  It ranges from terror to rock-star ... I must have shaken 100 or more hands in less than five minutes as kids, especially, just didn't know what to do with a white guy - touch his skin or run ... "

This is what boiled casaba looks like

Large bowl of beans

For lunch a huge bowl, about 2 feet in diameter, was brought out filled with beans and a sim-sim sauce (made with sesame seeds).  The bowl was resting on a large brownish "blob" of casaba flour boiled to a texture like that of cream of wheat after it's been left sitting for awhile.  Everyone ate together, taking some of the casaba with their fingers, forming it into a spoon shape, then scooping up some of the beans from the large bowl to eat.  As Hal ate a few bites they all cheered and laughed to see him join them!

After lunch it was time to get back to digging ... they hit a rock.  While trying to break through the rock Hal gathered enough information to understand the kids to be saying "... this old guy is strong ... he has to be strong, look how big he is..."  As he broke through the rock, again there were cheers!

Feeling the effects after a day of working like a 20-something-year-old, the reality of being a late 40-something-year old was setting in!  Three Advil, lights out (Hal's lights that is, since there is no electricity) - to wake up 8 hours later!  In Paidha, there are new experiences for all!