So much for planning - now for some doing!

The last 2 weeks we were in Santa Rosa working on their spring protection. We didn’t get as much done as we’d hoped, because when we arrived the community hadn’t prepared any of the materials we’d asked them to so we spent 3 days collecting gravel. We did manage to protect the spring though, and will be going back next week to build the tank. 

Collecting, washing and sorting materials - we spent the best part of 3 days doing this

Adín our técnico enjoying a chicha break, lunch turning up, the protected spring

It was great to feel more at home this time - with 2 weeks in the same place we got to know them all a bit better, had our own little house to stay in and felt accepted as part of the community.  We combined hard work with hygiene and bible teaching and getting to know the people.

 The jovenes practising their handwashing skills, sunday school class about building your house/life upon the rock

The community don't sell any of their crops - as I was informed, everyone else grows yuca too - so the way most of them get money is to raise cows and then sell them to travelling salesmaen.  One of these arrived in the village midway through our stay and was very keen to talk to the English girls.  Part of the conversation went a bit like this:
Comerciante: So I'd guess that you're about 26 (me) and you're about 30 (Steph)
Me: Well I'm 27 and Steph's 29
Steph: That's impressive, most people are rubbish at guessing our ages here, well done - you were very close.
Comerciante:  Well I've been buying cows for years - I'm very good at looking at them and saying 'this one's 2 years old, this one's 2 years and 5 months...'

Based on the failure of all our radio messages to produce any work in advance of our visit, that I ought to go in person to our next couple of communities and explain what they needed to do. So I set off with a guide to walk the trail to Washintsa and Karamá. It was a pretty successful trip – not entirely without incident as on the way a managed to fall off a log into the river – totally soaking myself. About half an hour later we had to cross a river which was flowing pretty fast – my trusty guide crossed it alone and came back accompanied by a strong man with a stick. Meanwhile a bunch of fearless children turned up and started swimming. We all made it across safely!

We altered our flight plans slightly which confused everyone at MAF and so they didn’t provide any of our flights. But after some successful hitchhiking I mamaged to get dropped off in San Juan (the community we visited back in February to look at their broken pump).  Amazingly, armed with no prior experience but instead with prayer and many tools, we managed to fix the pump. There was a nervous moment when we began to pump and nothing happened, but I said with great confidence ‘keep going’ and eventually the water arrived. I even got a flight out a day early from a pilot who happened to be passing.