DEVELOPMENT IS HAPPENING!

I typed this October 27, 2010
DEVELOPMENT IS HAPPENING!!! I thought I might not see the day to declare this on my blog…. But I have seen it!!!! And I am so excited to write you all and tell you about my life and what is going on in my village! In previous blogs I have talked about the borehole in my village that is salty—boo! Saltiness is gross and people don’t drink the water, leaving Sibanor with a huge water problem. The strain and overuse of the current pumps has caused a massive problem in the village. During my PC service, I have made it my mission to work on elevating this problem along with the villagers-it’s my village, I love it here, I love the people and my village is important to me… plus easy access to clean drinking water is a must! We have had a lot of bumps over the year and a half that we’ve have been working on it… but God has his time for everything! It is coming together… the organization that I found in the United States –Friends of Penyem (FOP) has declared that they are sending the money to fix the borehole. My village has come together fundraising (on their own!!!) I just helped them organize… which means they are taking initiative on their own… which means there is sustainability!!! And so forth… plus things are happening where we have collected D20,600 = $ 800…. It may not seem like a lot of money to you… but it’s a whole lot here. We are keeping the money at the local credit union to make sure it is safe while we continue to collect more. We are hoping by patronizing the local civil servants and Gambians that live abroad we can collect more money to the account. With the account money we are hoping to not only fix are water problem but also extend the taps within the village.
We are having meetings, we are appointing people to tasks, money is being collected, questions are being asked, and awareness is coming full circle…. Plus, I am still calling, calling and calling the organization to come out and test our water tables, measure distances, place their machines, check the solar and so forth….the ball is rolling!!!!
Right now everything is falling into place (it’s exciting, yet sad because my time is almost finished and I will not see it completed). But I feel the village is really taking it into their hands and they will see to it that it’s completed. It’s exciting to see people come together, work and do something about their future. I have to say that even though this development has taken a LONG TIME…. It is still happening and its amazing to be a small factor in the progress of it taking place.