Tuesday 19th January
Communication can be challenging in Burkina Faso! Here is the WhatsApp message that we received from Christine:
You may remember that the ABC School project was a well at a small farm the school had bought. There are 800 children at the school, many of them refugees or orphans from the security probems in the North. The charity Jacob’s Well, who run the school, had bought the farm to help provide food for the children.
So we were pleased to hear about the successful borehole. However, we were not sure that the 2600 litres/hour would be enough water to support the water tower that Jacob’s Well wanted to install.
We were also disappointed that Leguema was negative on the first borehole.
Sometimes, there are tests of faith!
HOWEVER … the next day… Wednesday 20th January
When we talked to the Jacob’s Well people in the UK, they were quite surprised by the news of the borehole! They had heard that the borehole at the their farm was negative.
Christine checked with the drilling contractor.
The messages had been confused in transit. Wires had become crossed! It was actually Leguema that had the positive borehole. The 2600 litre supply would be more than adequate for the village. The pictures below will be consigned to history! Soon, this little girl and her mother will have a pump dispensing clean water where they live.
The messages had been confused in transit. Wires had become crossed! It was actually Leguema that had the positive borehole. The 2600 litre supply would be more than adequate for the village. The pictures below will be consigned to history! Soon, this little girl and her mother will have a pump dispensing clean water where they live.
BUT what about the school?
This news did mean that the school’s farm did not have water. The joy for the people at Leguema was tempered a little by the thought that it meant that the borehole at the school’s farm was negative. Prayer was called for.
But we have a wonderful God whose plans are better than we can imagine.
Here is the news from later the same day:
The Jacob’s Well trustees will decide exactly what they will do about installing the water tower. The flow rate will certainly support a 10,000 litre tank – the same size as we put at Saatenga.
This will ensure that crops can be grown all the year, not just in the Autumn after the rainy season.
There are also some houses quite close. The people living there will be able to use the water as well, and it is inevitable that more people will come to live in the area.
Sometimes we have to be patient to find out that God’s plans are better than we expect!
More blessing?
Only about 10 days ago, we had asked Christine to try another well.
The village is called Boby – there are a number of quartiers. The particular quartier where we wanted drill is known as “Secteur 3”. This village is near to a town called Houndé which is big enough to appear on Goggle maps. We knew from Christine that the borehole was being tried yesterday (Monday, 25th). So, we were awaiting news!
Monday 25th January 8:42 pm
Here is the message that popped up on WhatsApp:
More wonderful news!
It does present us with a decision to make, though. Do we put another water tower here? The flow rate is more than good enough, but there is a cost involved. We need wisdom again to make a good decision.
What next?
The drill now moves on to the South West. There are five wells planned, including two villages where these pictures were taken.
Thank you for your prayers. For news of the next five wells, see the next post which will appear soon!