Sunday, April 29, 2012 Hello everyone, I am a bit behind on all the updates so I will fill you in here, lots of news! First the well drillers hit water today at 22 meters!!!! We had a conference call this afternoon (Sunday about noon EDT). Below are the notes taken by Tom Power (Thanks Tom!!!!) on all the items we discussed, at that time we had still not begun drilling due to problems with the drilling rig. CSS Travel Team Call on April 29, 2012 On the call: In Sierra Leone: Bill Macnair Jim Butt Herb Klotz Ahmed Shiek In the USA: Diana Dunn Lori Cirucci Jamee Pemberton Tom Power Bill The well-drilling truck had blown it’s engine and had to be towed from Bo so they were just starting the drilling Sunday. A second truck was bringing a compressor for the hammer drill. It arrived two hours before the call. They hope to drill 15 meters Sunday and finish drilling on Monday. They will do a flow test on Tuesday They will install the hand pump on Wednesday Herb Held a CIIB Board meeting on Tuesday and it went very well Board members agreed an infrastructure fee made sense The team and Board will meet with parents on Tuesday to discuss the fee and the improvements. Two meetings will be held, one at 10 AM and one at 5 PM. Notices of the meeting were read on the radio and an announcement was made at the UBC church at mass. They have stressed that this may be our last trip if the school and community does not get behind the project especially financially. CSS is saving 150,000 Leones towards maintenance. CSS showed Herb the bank book but did not open it. Herb has asked for a photocopy of the balance. Bill told the Board and CSS administration that the community involvement and financial support was more important than a well. Loretta and Bill put the agenda together for the Tuesday meeting with the parents. Jim Replaced the 11 Watt bulbs with 8 Watt Had Dennis and Abdul change the lights Compared a classroom with 8W to a classroom with 11W and could see no difference in the amount of light. With the 11 Watt bulbs the system was getting to the float stage almost every day and often was in float for 4 hours. Found two sites for the pump solar array, both ground mount Behind boys’ bathroom North of well head in field east of library Will look for more sites Bill Paramount Chief tracked Bill down and talked to him about the water shortage in Matru. Tank inspection is scheduled for Monday. It will be done by a technician from the Ministry of Water. Jim Will have fences around ground mount. They worked on the women’s staff toilet and fixed the cesspit. They will also repair the men’s staff toilet. Work should be complete by Tuesday. Herb Sheik has volunteered to help out with the water chlorination. They will be talking to the students about hygiene and water. They are going to install carboys with faucets in the classrooms. Asked Ahmed to give them estimates on: Finishing the 6 girls’ toilets Finishing the 7 boys toilets Piping from well to toilets Re-roofing of chemistry, biology and dining hall. Estimate will include termite-free wood, ceilings, and windows. NCIS is open M-F 10-3 which is not convenient for teachers and school staff. Team will meet with NCIS on Tuesday Jim - EDAL has done one solar well with Supreme Ventures. Supreme Ventures has done solar wells with the government. And here are some fun Mattu facts that you may not have known :- ) that the team has learned: Rich people eat spam, chicken and ketchup, Common people eat shrimp, lobster, clams and fish!!!! A toilet is called a "sitter" the town radio station is 88.5 "the voice of women" crushed stone is called "granite" and people called "stone breakers" make it by turning big rocks into little rocks. That is all the news for now. Oh and one final note: Mattru is experiencing a very dry spell, this includes the guest house that travel team is staying in. This means they have not had water all week from their rooms, they have been using buckets all week for cleaning, not a problem for this group. Will keep you posted of any other news as it comes in. Best Regards, Jamee