First Month

I’m sitting in a café in Gulu Uganda thinking about all that has happened this past month and feeling amazed and a little nauseous at the same time. I’m sure after reading this first sentence you already have a least two questions: Why are you in Gulu Uganda and why are you feeling nauseous? Well, lets start with a little background.
Just a week after coming back to Africa we were back to drilling. Things are a different this time. We’ve hired five new employees which include two professionally trained builders for our new installation crew, a new assistant driller, a sanitation coordinator, and a ministry coordinator. These new guys combined with our existing four man drill crew (excluding me). With this small army we headed out to Jalimo area to drill three boreholes donated by three churches that had witnessed first hand the need for clean water when they went on a e3 short-term mission trip in August.
The next seven days were a whirlwind. Within those seven days, my crew drilled and completed all three boreholes, collected impressive sanitation data, and shared their faith with hundreds of people. This was all accomplished despite having some equipment malfunction delays.
Our next big contract was drilling six wells for a organization called Villages of Hope Africa (VOHA). VOHA is a US Christian organization working in Gulu, Uganda which helps new villages get their feet under them by giving them farming tools and loaning them seeds for various types of crops. They have also drilled some boreholes in the past using a different company. The way WHI and VOHA came to meet can only be described as a match made in heaven.
To make a long story short, two of VOHA’s main guys, David and Gregg, were in Uganda trying to find a driller that would drill for a lower cost then there previously contracted company that charged them about $15,000 per well. After spending some time looking and not finding anybody that would drill on the cheap, then went back to Entebbe to fly back. When they went to the airport their flight was cancelled so they went back to the hotel. While they were at the hotel they met Will and Evan Radler who where on their way back from drilling some wells with me for a week in Sudan. David, being very friendly and outgoing, went up to Evan and asked, “What are you guys doing here?” Evan explained they were working with WHI drilling water wells in Sudan. You can guess the rest of the story.

That leads me to the present moment. I’m sitting in this little café writing this update after spending a week and a half in Gulu. Within that time, we have drilled five of the six boreholes and are working on the last as I write. Our time here has been both rewarding a challenging. This has been one of our more difficult drilling locations because of community mentality as well as geologic challenges. The community in Gulu is harder to work with because they expect everything to be provided for them. This comes about because of years of living in refugee camps and also because of the hundreds of NGO’s that have aided in this dependence mentality. What I mean by “difficult” is that it is hard to get the communities to contribute to their well through labor and food, which we traditionally require. There have been some exceptions, some communities have been very generous, but in general they are pretty tough. The crew has worked unbelievably hard and have pushed through are within reach of the end.

For the most part, I spend my time with the crew, working and camping in the villages. That was until I got sick. When I first got here I came down with a cold that annoyed me more then hindered me. Near the end of the first week, I started feeling very sick. I had a pounding headache, fatigue, stomach pain, and felt nauseous. I thought I might have malaria but the symptoms felt different then the last five times I have had it. I took the meds anyways just in case but my conditions didn’t improve. I had one of my guys take me into town on Saturday morning and spent that day and night in serious pain trying to sleep and unable to move. Not so much sleep as a passed out. The next day I felt a little better but went to the clinic and got tested. It turned out I had Typhoid Fever! Wow. That's a new one. I had gotten inoculated against that but had heard that you can still get it. The treatment is simple and I have spent the last four days recovering. At this time, I feel much better except for some nausea in my stomach, which might be from the medication. I’m just ready to feel well again and be on our way back to Sudan.
My favorite experience of Gulu came yesterday when went I went with David (the VOHA director from the US) and his wife Dana to where the crew had just finished drilling the fifth site. The community was there waiting for us with singing and dancing. They had us seat as guests of honor and had a performance planned with instruments like drums, and hollowed gourds that they beat with pieces of metal. They also had traditional dancing girls in colorful multi-layered skirts. The end result was beautiful and exciting (pictures soon to come). The best part was that the community gave thanks to God before they thanked us.

Well, that's it until next time when I write you from Sudan. Keep praying for WHI, for our crew, and of course, for my health.

Thanks!