Water Woes

Thursday, August 5

Eileen and I were supposed to go to the garden this morning, but we got a few sprinkles and the sky looked promising for more rain, especially over Pavuvu. It was so frustrating to see the dark clouds so close by and to receive only a sprinkle. So Naris came and asked me to wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is a church holiday, so I'm curious if we will still go.

We've started taking some well water to help with our washing. The wells refill overnight, and even though they are a freshwater/saltwater mix, we just can't justify using the community's last drinking water supply to wash clothes. They use the wells for cooking water, too. On my way back from asking permission to use a well, I found Chairman Hensi and his three sisters storying. Aaron and Chairman are planning to go fishing this weekend if Aaron feels good and if the wind calms down. Hensi said he knows where to take some leaves to pound up and throw into the water to stun the fish. According to our neighbors, some people have the power to look at the leaves and negate the power to stun the fish. Kiko said if she accidently looks at the leaves, then the leaves won't work. It was hard to tell if Hensi was just giving his big sister a hard time, or if they were all very serious about the ability that Kiko holds.

Wednesday, August 4

We enjoyed a tiny bit of rain last night. It was enough to put some water in the 200 gallon tank for our neighbors, and they came to fill pots until that tank ran dry. The 400 gallon tank didn't receive enough rain to come over the spigot, so it didn't provide any water for our neighbors. I'm beginning to think about putting together a work crew from North America and asking for churches to work together to provide two 2,000 gallon tanks and guttering to utilized the church's huge copper roof. Right now, the rain just runs off and creates puddles on the hard packed ground. Everybody keeps saying that July and August are windy and dry and that September is the time for rain. Food is dying in their gardens, and they can't plant anything as long as the ground is this dry, so there will be a food shortage that will last for several months at least. Christmas feasting may be slim this year. Our own umalau and obikola (their staples) are so small compared to where they should be right now.

Today is Election Day. Two men from Marulaon are running for the Member of Parliament seat along with two other men from the Russells and two from Savo. Eileen is busy feeding people since her brother is one of the men running for election. People from several different villages came to vote here in Marulaon. Aaron and I tried to get out and mingle a little bit. Ezekiel came to finish up plans for the picture dictionary workshop coming up this weekend. We've discovered that he loves to eat kino (cutnuts), so he cut and eat them while he and Aaron visited. Later in the afternoon, Aaron sent him home with a fongi (bunch) of kino, and Ezekiel was delighted.

Tonight, Aaron's fever went back up and he began having chills. So I doctored him with ibuprofen and malaria meds.

Tuesday, August 3

Aaron left this morning after to prayer to go with Hensi and a few children to fill up containers with water. The place they originally intended to go was no longer available because someone had cut the pipes (just plastic pipes lying on top of the ground). So, they ventured up one of the rivers on Pavuvu. Aaron returned around lunch with four buckets of yellowish water. We use so much more water than our neighbors do, but we are trying to learn how to conserve more. I'm still using the washing machine, but I'm only filling it half full and washing more loads. The water is pretty disgusting when I'm finished, but I'm so thankful for that machine! We use the rinse water to flush the toilet, we're not washing sheets or pajamas or hair, and we're drinking lots of green coconuts. I still went through all four buckets by the time the day was finished.

Aaron was running a little bit of fever tonight, so he took some ibuprofen and went to bed around seven o'clock. We'll see what tomorrow holds.