Saturday 9 Febuary, We think we killed a snake.

Satellite Image of Wateme from Google Earth

Wateme is a village in the Wakka Community Based Primary Health Care (CBPHC) Pilot Project Area. It is a village of around 40 households and over 400 people. They currently, have 5 hand dug wells. Three on the side of the stream where the church is located and two on the other side. One on the church side is the most productive. They have raised over 300,000 naira towards drilling a borehole with a hand pump.

They have three problems for drilling a borehole. First is geographical. The village is located in an area that is difficult to get to. You can drive in from the north from Mayo Lope or the southwest from Mayo Belwa. The Mayo Belwa route is what we took. It is suppose to be the better route for a drill rig. There are two steep valleys on the north route that is difficult for the drill rigs. The main river crossing route from Mayo Belwa is a dry river bed that is passable from January to April or May. This route has numerous dry stream crossing which will be challenging for a large drill rig. The mobilization cost for drilling one borehole this deep into the bush will be large. The driller will take most of the first day just to get to the site and set up. If there were two or more bore holes to drill in the area then the cost for each would be lower. The estimate we are hearing is that the borehole location will increase the cost by 100,000 Naira ($636).

There second problem is that they are in the CBPHC Pilot Study Area. The CBPHC model is that villages use their own resources and labor to do small projects to improve the village and the health of the village. This village has not picked a small project. If they were not in this project area they would receive a matching grant and would have a borehole drilled in late March or April.

The third problem is geology. The borehole will need to be drill 40 meters deep into weathered bedrock. This means the will have to air hammer in the bedrock. That adds a third truck for the compressor and much more fuel to run the compressor.

We made the trip in a Health Board old Peugot 504 station wagon. This is a Lazarus vehicle that has been raised from the dead many times. These old Peugot have a high ground clearance, wide wheel base and a low first gear. They are good “bush cars”. They can go most places a 4 wheeled drive can go. We were the only four wheeled vehicle we saw on the trails to Wateme. On the return trip we saw a small pick-up near Mayo Belwa.

Our plan was to meet the geologist at Mayo Belwa at 11 AM. We arrived a little late and found out that they were just leaving Ganye from another survey site. While we waited we had lunch at Twin Sisters Restaurant. The geologist arrived at around 1PM and had a quick lunch before taking the 1hour 20 minute drive to Wateme. We took their car to a compound nearby compound for safe keeping while we were in the bush. They had a little Toyota Starlet which is not a bush car. While at the compound we noticed a moving van with four girls in the back, four boys on the roof and grandma, a rug and two others in the cab.

We arrived around 3 pm and greeted the retired pastor and current pastor. We sat down and discussed the project then the geologist, Julius started his divining on the Northeast end of the town near the pastors home. He uses two metal rods held in front of him as he walks through the town. If they move away from each other it is an indication of no water. If they cross it indicates water. The quicker they come together the better the indication. He found no indications until he got near the well that is the most productive.  He also had indications near the other nearby well. These two sites are on one end of the village and what appears to be the most populated area. Site 2 will be a shorter walk for the majority of the people. He decided on testing points and performed a conductivity/resistivity survey of the two sites. While Julius and his technicians were running the survey lines, I walked through the village looking at other wells, compounds and the church. After he performed the survey of these two sites, Julius walked the rest of the village on this side of the stream and found no indications of water. It was getting too late to do another geotechnical survey and get out of the bush before dark.

 

We went to tell the committee and CBPHC representatives what we had found and that the data that was taken would be put into a computer for analysis and from that we can estimate the cost to drill a borehole and install a hand pump. At the pastor’s compound we were given pounded corn with chicken and a brown sauce. We ate quickly while they discussed the project. As we drove quickly to Mayo Belwa a long snake crossed the road in front of us. The driver speed up and swerved off the road to hit the snake. We think we got it. Snake bites are a common occurrence in the bush. Here in the dry season you are an hour and a half to the nearest clinic and two and a half to the nearest hospital. In September the streams and rivers are swollen and most cannot be crossed. There are no helicopters to fly in and lift out a snake bite victim. You will depend on traditional medicines.

On Monday Adams checked with the geologist and found that both sites appear to be productive with the first site having the best. The report will be available by the end of the week. Adams will take the report to the driller and have a cost estimate to drill a bore hole and install a India Mark II, or Mark III or an AfriDev. On Tuesday we heard the cost will be at least 650,000 Naira. Twice the amount the village has raised in the last year. We are looking for options for the village that will not break the CBPHC protocol. When Doctor Thompson, consultant to the CBPHC Program arrives in two weeks we will discuss the matter with him.