We got kind of a late start on Monday, and stopped at a nice park next to a river for lunch. Ntsane, my Counterpart (on the far side of the car making the face), made some bangin' roast chicken with peppers and onions and some homemade steamed bread. It was a great start to the week.
Just outside of Quthing camp town are some dinosaur footprints.
My supervisor was unimpressed with the size of the footprints and suggested to the steward that he get in there with a chisel and get something that people would want to see. 
The scenery was amazing in the South. It was difficult to really capture how rugged the mountains were. The views will be more spectacular in a few weeks when it really gets green.
I just liked this shot. I need a little more practice taking photos out of a moving vehicle. 
This is a village we drove through that already has a rural water systems. These panels are used for solar pumping, which has a high capital cost but very low recurrent and maintenance costs. The big challenge is making sure people don't steal them. DRWS puts them next to a home, pours concrete in the 6 meter pole and wraps the whole thing in razor wire. 
This was a crazy road. There were 12 or so switchbacks to get up to a group of 3 villages that will be receiving systems. Access during wet weather will be a challenge, but at least they have improved dirt road and a good bridge. 
There were 3 or 4 villages and a health center on the other side of this river. MCA will be renovating that health center, so the contractors will have a challenging time getting materials across. There are a few rowboats that provide access to those villages when the water raises.
This was the "road" to one village. It took about 30 minutes to go 2 km. The next village is inaccessible via 4x4. Contractors will have to bring materials in on animal driven carts or on the backs of donkeys directly. 
Another view of the "road". 
This is next to a mountain pass that is inaccessible in the winter because of snow. 
This hand-pumped borehole will be replaced with a solar pump. 
This is an unprotected spring that will be caught, protected and gravity fed to the village. 
Another challenging road. 
This is the chief of a village that will be receiving a system. She was hilarious and said that, "Once I see the water run, I can die in peace." Below is the unprotected spring where her community members currently get their water. 
This valley was particularly impressive for its agriculture. It also had a stunning view.
Here is Ntsane getting water from the decrepit system at a village. Their sources dried up, so a new solar pumping system will bring water up from a spring well below the village. One nice thing about water in Lesotho is that it is overwhelmingly clean and needs no processing. 
This is a hand washing station. The jug has some small holes in the bottom. When the cap is screwed on tight the water tension in the holes is strong enough to maintain the pressure balance. When the top is unscrewed the water flows freely through the holes and you can easily wash your hands. In conjunction with new Ventilated Improved Pit-Latrines this village's hygiene will be improved. 
We visited this site with the contractor who will be building the system. We had a Pitso, or community meeting, and discussed some of the particulars of local labor and the contractor's work plan for the village. It was all in Sesotho, but Ntsane translated for me.
This is an old busted hand pump. DRWS policy is to do away with hand pumps and instead create gravity fed systems. It makes water more accessible to young children and elderly people.
It's been a while since I've been out to rural Lesotho. The accessibility of many of the communities we visited will mean that contractors will have to use local labor, including animals, to transport materials in. We should see ground breaking in the next couple weeks, which will be a great sight.
Hope you're all well. I've just got 5 weeks left at MCA and will be back in the US on the 16th of December.
5 comments:
All I have to say about the road is "i've seen worse" :) love ya.
amazing amazing amazing!!!
God is great! I wish I was back standing in the beautifulness of Lesotho!!!!! My heart is so joyful and excited for all of it!!!!
love you so much.
panda
Phil....Gotta love that Manda! She's seen worse and She knows her Brother!
Your photos are Beautiful....and amazing. By the way, I'll never forget that first entry into Lesotho...at the North border, the border on the cliff on the top of the mountain. I still feel the intensity of the scene, the sights and the scenerio.
Miss you tons! Love Mom
Oh, the Places You Will Go.....Oh, The Things You Will Do. Oh, The Things you Have Accomplished!
Phil-----loved the pictures ---makes me think I might like to go to Lesotho! Will be so great to see you in Dec. Love Aunt Ruth
It's funny only the ladies, and the family ones, have left comments so far. I can't figure out how that is a slam on you; something about how everyone else is hiding? No, they're just glad they don't have to pick you up from the airport. :-) As am I.
I have to say that was fantastic pictorial summation of your work's endgame--not that it's finished, but what it'll be finishing. Again, fantastic. It seems to me one of the acute blessings of Lesotho's relative poverty and lack of industrialization is that water purity. That's how it was in Skagway, the running water came from a glacier-fed river, and the glacier was all of half a mile in elevation up from where they pumped the river. Clean makes for great taste. Anyway, Lucy's pissed about me typing and is currently pushing the delete button every other word. Now the off switch. Bye.
Candice
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