Who We Are

Dispatch from Tanzania

The following letter from Roger Whitfield was posted Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Hi everyone.

It is Saturday, June 28th, getting close to 4 weeks since I returned to Tanzania to install the water pump. I have been reluctant to correspond before now, being dogged by fear of failure and having to return to St. Paul's in disgrace, but today I can report that the new pump is in place and operating at goal performance.

The village is grateful and it is very satisfying seeing them carrying clean water in their buckets. The installation came not a moment too soon since last Saturday the old pump began to give out and had to be run for only an hour at a time. Furthermore, the installation took three days: three days the village was dependent on their disgusting surface wells. (I have been staying here since Monday and they have been gracious enough to find clean bathing water for me each morning during this lean time). But now they have something they can count on.

It has been a frustrating time and I have frequently wondered what God was trying to show me. This was an unplanned trip occasioned by a deceptive local vendor with whom I had dealt on the last trip and had to sack. I resorted to ordering the new pump through a reputable Dar es Salaam distributor and they, in turn, were importing it from Australia. I had placed the order on May 19th and the distributor expected a roughly two-week delivery time, making it on-hand for my June 6th arrival. This did not happen. Firstly, the funds that I had wired (normally a 2 day operation) from Dodoma to the distributor on May 19th did not arrive in the distributor's account until June 5th despite frantic efforts by Father Noah Masima, the Carpenter's Kid's director, to track them down. It is still not clear what happened, but the upshot was that the distributor made no prior preparations for the delivery until I arrived. To add to the difficulties, the normally reliable airfreight he uses went awry with the pump taking a side trip to Kenya and then getting held up in customs. The net result was that it was not delivered to the distributor until June 13th, i.e. 2 weeks late. I was still in Dar es Salaam at this point and was able to inspect the pump. There were some corrective actions needed and they, plus checking over everything, consumed a few more days and the pump was finally shipped to Dodoma on June 19th. Father Noah stored the crates at his house and the next day, Saturday, he arranged for a truck to take it all to Mwitikira. We were trying to move quickly because of the word from Mwitikira of problems with the old pump.

The pump distributor is an interesting guy. He is a first generation Tanzanian of Indian descent, his father having emigrated to Tanzania to work on the railroad. From what I could see, Indians are Tanzania's entrepreneurs and this guy was no exception. In addition to having a water pump distributorship, he had a well drilling business, a machine shop and a honey (bees, not sweeties) business. One would think this laudable, however, it means that he is limited in the time and energy he can devote to each business and was not - and neither had on-hand - a water pump expert. It made me feel a little exposed.

I had preceded the pump to Dodoma, traveling on June 18th. This was the same day that Suzanne, Cindy, Si, Natalie and Rebecca (Suzanne's daughter) were returning from Mwitikira on their way home and we met at the Dodoma Hotel. I was miffed to have missed time with them in Mwitikira, but it was great to see them and hear their experiences and exuberance.

The Water Ministry knew of Mwitikira's pump difficulties and was supportive of getting our new pump installed. I met with them first thing on Monday and they were most cordial and cooperative. The installation was scheduled to begin first thing on Tuesday and I rode with them that morning to Mwitikira. Work began at 11:00 am and by 6:00 pm we had the old pump out of the well.

Wednesday's work began early at 9:00 and the goal was to have the new pump operating at the end of the day. A pump expert I had engaged was on hand and advising the two water ministry technicians. They worked hard. The pump would eventually be 180 feet down and had to be lowered into the borehole one 10 foot length of 3-inch pipe at a time - without dropping it of course. By day's end we still had 5 pipe lengths to go.

Thursday found us reconvening at 9:00 and continuing to screw pipe together. By noon we had finished and had the head and drive pulley in place with V-belts connected to the engine. We connected some temporary pipe to the head in readiness for flow testing. The pump room attendant started the engine and at 1:45 pm water started flowing. The rate was 4.5 liters per second vs. the goal of 4.2 liters per second, which was encouraging. We then connected to the main line that goes to the storage tank. This line is 1.4 km long and rises 36 meters (120 feet), adding pressure resistance that the pump must overcome. A check of flow at the storage tank yielded 2.5 liters per second maximum, significantly below goal. Clearly something was wrong!! Had I selected the wrong pump? The Water Ministry engineer, Mr. Buhoro, opined that a check valve in the line to the storage tank was defective. (This valve stops water flowing back down the well when the engine is stopped). He offered to replace the valve and I accepted, however he would not be able to procure and bring the new valve until Saturday ("today" was Thursday). I spent a very anxious and distracted Friday, often in prayer. Does God fix engineering screw-ups? He didn't in Minnesota when the bridge collapsed, so why should he act in Mwitikira? Not very comforting contemplation.

Saturday arrived and Mr. Buhoro had with him a shiny new check valve. We had to dig to reach the old check valve and had it out by 10:30. Heaven be praised; it was broken and in such a way that it could restrict flow. We hustled to get the new valve in place and restart the pump. This time we achieved 4 liters per second at the storage tank. I could go home, and I left Mwitikira the next day, Sunday.

By this time I had spent 5 days and nights in Mwitikira and it was really my first experience of village life. I was surprised at how easily I adjusted to it. As I think most westerners do, I was concerned about the toilet facilities; but once I became familiar with them - figuring out where to place my feet etc. - it was easy, and in fact, in bathing, pouring jugs of warm water over myself was very pleasant. Father Erasto is a gracious host, Rebecca's food is better than that in Dodoma and the stars truly are brighter and more numerous in the Mwitikira heavens.

It was good to get home and see Sandra again and to see the greenness of Virginia. Africa is dry and dusty, but never dull.

Just a few reflections:

Roger Whitfield

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