We’ve finally started drilling our well in Nyangiti, and the community has really pitched in. They’re cooking meals, inviting the drillers into their homes to stay for the night, and even provided manual labor for the drillers. However, we’re not in the clear yet.
Maji-Tech has hit some very tough rocks that are eating up fuel (they’ve used 1500 liters of diesel so far, more than twice the average amount), and we haven’t hit water at our expected depth of 90m. We’re a little nervous about this since a handpump won’t be able to work at depths below ~90m. However, our hydrogeologist is confident that we’ll hit water at 130m, and that the pressure of the water table will push the water level back above 90m. He has been working in this field for 20 years, so we’re trusting in his experience. In the meantime, we’ve been meeting with the Nyangiti well committee weekly in order to keep them up to date on the latest news so that they can inform the community and know what to expect.
We also took this opportunity to look under the hood with the well committees in Gukipimo and Nyameteburo. Before Majitech finishes drilling, we’re taking some time to disassemble the India Mk II pump and marvel at all the shiny metal parts. We explained how the pump works, and how much it will cost for them to maintain the pumps. We also emphasized the point that THEY are the ones responsible for maintaining the pump, not Nuru. They asked plenty of questions about how the pump worked, and were excited to see what exactly they were collecting the well fees for 100KSH for a cupseal, 9000KSH for a pump cylinder, etc. They even asked to set up a meeting to see how much their committee had saved, and make plans to overcome any shortcomings in savings.