Languishing latrines, waning water supplies, and paradoxical PC's.

Languishing latrines, waning water supplies, and paradoxical PC's.

The long awaited rains have started, and the warmth of the piercing sun is giving way to cool breezes and cloudy cover. Temperatures are still high, but life is somehow much more pleasant now as my perpetual perspiration production is giving pause to a few hours of dry skin bliss. The small things in life that bring such satisfaction...

Life in Mundri is so vastly different than my former life in the states, and yet so undeniably good. I am grateful to be here and humbled by all that I have seen and experienced. My physical body has been bombarded with heat rashes, hives, and hordes of other ailments; this has forced me to decelerate my everyday pace, but that's probably a good thing. Too often I fly through my days forgetting to cease and absorb.

Today I give pause to consider some very important projects that remind me of what a contrasting environment I am in, and how you can play a very large role in improving the lives of so many people in Mundri, Sudan.

LANGUISHING LATRINES

Some days I miss flush toilets - the feel of the actual seat, and the brief period to sit and rest, but most days I am perfectly content with a latrine (outhouse). At least I have a latrine!!

Christine and Bethany have been working at a local secondary school (high school) and recently told me of the school's wish list. Several of my friends also go to this school, and I have visited it several times. The school staff and community have made great strides in improving the facilities of the school, but the school currently has no latrine!! If you need to urinate you (males and females) can pee on the rocks within the shelter above or you can go out into the bush and find a spot for all other business. The public health professional within me cringes at the thought of this - a school with hundreds of students that has no functioning latrine!

My initial response is that I want to grab a shovel and start digging one myself! The reality is that the staff are eager to build a latrine, the community has rallied behind them to help make some of the bricks needed, but they still lack the monetary funds to finish the bricks and lay a concrete slab. This is where you can help!

Have you ever thought about building a latrine? Yeah, I haven't either until now. Here is a tangible way that you can help make a difference. Would you be willing to donate some money to buy bricks, build some walls, and dig a deep hole so hundreds of student and staff have an actual 'place' to go to the bathroom? The cost of the project is $2,000 to build one latrine, but ideally we would like to build two separate latrines (one for women and one for men) at a cost of $4,000.

This could be a great, tangible project for you and your friends to get involved with. I can imagine one of those thermometer type things that people usually use to display how much money has been raised, but instead of that there is a picture of a big hole that gets deeper and deeper as the money accumulates!!

If you would like to get involved, please let me know via scottjosephwill@yahoo.com or go to http://www.whm.org/enter-a-desig and enter 11927 as the designation code for Mundri secondary school.

You can also see Bethany's blog for a much more eloquent description of the project:

http://bethanygrace.wordpress.com/

Waning Water Supplies

Michael and Christine are two very capable water engineers serving as part of the World Harvest Mission team here in Mundri, Sudan. Their work and efforts are to bring life saving substance, water, to the mouths of many.

All over Africa, and even the world, obtaining clean, safe drinking water is not often an easy task. Many people, especially women and children, spend several hours a day collecting water. Sometimes the water comes from boreholes, but sometimes from polluted and disease-invested waters. The public health professional in me again comes roaring out when I see people drinking water straight from the river, with no sort of filtration methods used. I suppose when you are thirsty, and you have no other means of a water source, you drink what you have. I foresee trainings about water safety in the future...

Michael, Christine, and two engineering students coming this summer have grand visions of repairing bore holes and helping to distribute clean, safe water around Mundri and surrounding communities. A noble scheme that will benefit many, but lacking in funds. Unfortunately, the people we are trying to serve are often unable to afford fixing boreholes, water pumps, and new parts.

If you would like to get involved, please let me know via scottjosephwill@yahoo.com or go to http://www.whm.org/project/details?ID=19202.

Check out Christine's blog for more information: http://immeasurablymorewhm.blogspot.com/2010/04/summer-projects.html

Paradoxical PC's

What is a paradoxical PC? Well, I am not exactly sure but those words came to mind when Christine told me about another potential project at the local secondary school.

I am so very thankful to have a computer. It allows me to communicate with people thousands of miles away, upload pictures, write documents, and all sorts of other things. I first used a computer when I was in high school (yes, I am getting old) and was amazed at the technology of it all. In today's world people are using computers all around the globe - even in rural locations of Uganda and Sudan.

Many young Africans are eager to learn how to use computers, and they often express that many jobs and businesses are now eager to hire people with some computer skills. Unfortunately, there are few people around rural areas of Sudan that can teach computer classes, and obtaining computers is often a costly obstacle.

The situation here, at Mundri Secondary School, is quite different. The school was gifted several very nice computers from various donors, but those computers have just been sitting in boxes. The school lacks sound physical buildings, and they do not have a generator 'room' (there is no electricity here) to run the computers and, up until now, they have had no one around whom knows how to install them and teach computer classes. Christine is a gifted chemical/water engineer versed in computers, and we have several interns coming this summer who are willing and able to help teach computer classes.

So those very nice computers, built to increase knowledge and information capacity, are lying dormant. A paradox of sorts. I would like to help awaken them, and here's how:

The school needs to build a small shelter to house the generator, keeping rain and thieves at bay. They also need some basic cables, wires, and plugs to completely install them. The cost of the project is $2,000.

Would you be willing to help? This would be a great project for a small group, a teacher and students, or anyone else interested in furthering the education and technology of students in Sudan! I can imagine it now, e-mails being sent from students in America to students in Sudan...oh, the learning opportunities and cultural exposure that could ensue! (Yes, I get very excited about things like this!)

If you would like to get involved, please let me know via scottjosephwill@yahoo.com or go to http://www.whm.org/enter-a-desig and enter 11926 as the designation code.

You can also see Christine's blog for a much more thorough description of the project:

http://immeasurablymorewhm.blogspot.com

Christine also created a Mundri Secondary School Computer Club Facebook page that has lots more information.