FOOD DROP TO ELEPHANT VILLAGE
Yesterday, Saturday, July 2nd, our 6 ton truck left at 4a.m. with 4.5 tons of corn and 1,400 lbs of dried beans for the elephant village kids.
This will keep smiles on their faces and food on their plates for the next 2 months.
This was no easy task to organize as our truck team of 3 men and our Meluco orphan administrator had to work hard to make possible this direct food drop.
It’s the first time we’ve tried it, but it saves time and delivery costs.
Sylvia, our Meluco Adm., had to ride his 50 cc motorbike to the cross roads (25 miles through elephant country) to meet our truck.
All 4 men had to camp out last night at a nearby school after the distribution, as they didn’t arrive at the elephant village (7 hour drive from Balama) until early afternoon to deliver the food.
Sylvai told me that the elephants are quite active late afternoon, so he rode his motorbike home on Sunday morning.
The kids are looking healthier and I hope to visit them later this month.
WATER WELLS TO PREVENT CHOLERA
I met with the newly appointed STATE DIRECTOR of Social Services last Friday. Maria Argentina has a true heart for the children, and told us to “keep doing what we are doing, and do not slow down”. She is very impressed with our program and was especially happy to hear of the 4 wells we are drilling in Meluco county.
Her only request was to ask for at least 2 water wells to prevent a 5th year of cholera in a place called Chiure (SHE-oor-EE), about 3 hours south east of Balama.
For the last 4 years, Chiure has had a yearly outbreak of cholera due to a lack of clean water. A lot of children have been orphaned. Another group stepped in to help those orphans, but NO ONE has done anything to prevent further outbreaks. Water wells are the only solution.
Drilling commercially now costs about $7000/well plus the pump ($1,700) and all cement work ($300).
New government regulations now make it impossible for anyone to drill without a commercial license.
Even without this red tape, the BEDROCK would have stopped our drilling machine, as both Meluco county and the Chiure area have granite bedrock on top of the underground water.
The drilling company we use has a machine that cuts through this type bedrock like a hot knife in butter, and they GUARANTEE WATER when they drill.
We have $8,000 in our water well fund, so helping these children to receive one water well is almost possible.
As the Lord provides, we will organize a 2nd well, as the area has several thousand children living there.
One well can serve about 1000 people/day if it is pumped at least 16 hours/day.
That’s $9/person for many years to come!
Blessings from the Balama and Meluco staff.
Bush Bunny Brenda