The sinkhole in question, this black hole in my Kiabakari world, this ugliest point in the Hill, was nothing else but an open, excavated pit for the construction of the main water tank of the capacity of approx. 130 thousand liters which would retain rain water from the roof of the shrine and from the village pipeline which carries water from Lake Victoria to Butiama and supplying on the way several villages, including ours.
This open pit stayed opened for ten years! Seasons were coming and going, years passing and it was just there, without any development... Walls were imploding, forcing us to clean the pit again and again, costing a lot of money as the hole is huge by our standards - ten meters in diameter and some four meters high!
Whenever I tried to do something to push forward this project, some other things were coming up and this one was pushed aside out of necessity and lack of sufficient funds... Along the way, I was able to collect slowly some construction material, mainly iron bars for reinforcements, stones, sand... we succeeded in fabrication of special concrete profiles for walls of the tank, but I was never near to securing decent funding to finalize the project.
Till now...
Thanks to the kind help of Susanne (thank you so much, Suzanne!), who connected me with German Embassy in Dar es Salaam, we were able to receive just a few days ago, when I was on my way from Poland to Kiabakari, sufficient funds to push us, as I believe, all the way till the end of this job! If I will run short of funds, it will not be for the tank itself, as I cautiously calculate, but rather for some sophisticated filtering system for inlets and outlets and piping system from the tank to health center, center for education and formation, pastoral center, sisters' convent and volunteers' headquarters... But I will not my head to be preoccupied with what will happen next...
What really made my day this afternoon, after a gloomy and depressing start, was the view of the pit that TODAY changed FOREVER. The picture of the barren bedrock at the bottom of the pit I was staring at with hate and anger, helpless and furious, for the past TEN YEARS, is gone FOREVER. My workers had set a stone layer and started to fabricate reinforcements for the concrete base that will carry the load of the tank and the water.
So, 'The Day After' Syndrome is gone and I welcome a sheer jubilation and a sense of achievement again...Yes, yes, yes! Woooohoooo! Soooo happy!
Farewell, you disgusting, most hated ugly sinkhole! I won't even bother to provide you with a funeral service! Welcome, our new beautiful tank, a source of life and hope, peace and happiness for so many who will benefit from the water supply provided by it!
What a roller coaster you have been on physically, mentally and emotionally since touching down in Kiabakari. 'Lord of the Dust' you surely are. It is like being on a permanent building site reading some of your blogs.And of course all the paper evidence is mind bloggling. Near where we lived my father used to go to the fair of Cross( local cattle mart) and when the farmers sold a cow they would spit on their hands, rub them together and the deal was done. Then they would shake hands - it might be a long time before the money passed hands but the farmer went home happy with his cow! Hope you got a good bargain and could 'spit on your hands and rub them together ' with satisfaction, going home with your concrete 'cows'.
ReplyDeleteGlad the exhaustion syndrome has faded and that the water tank is under construction - what a long wait , 10 years but wasn't it good you kept the empty hole - nature abhors a vacuum.
I loved the hymn to the Black Madonna - it took me back to the shrine in Czestochowa and the hundreds of pilgrims who were drawn to her image in prayer and petition. I always think she has such a sad expression and the 2 cuts on the face(I know they are linked to the history of the image) intensify that, but given the very tortured history of Poland it is no wonder the image reflects such sadness. The wonderful Queen of Poland !Anyhow keep the water flowing into that tank and sure ' the well never runs dry ' in your spiritual heart. May rivers of money also flow in your direction to keep you ,the master builder, developing and realising his dreams.
Loved you description of 'deal done'. It was and still is in some parts of Poland to do the same ritual in exchanging or selling goods.
ReplyDeleteI'm really relieved and happy that this water project that haunted me for so long is finally underway, and our institution located down below will benefit from a bountiful water supply, please God!
Tomorrow is a recollection day, as always on Friday, so it will be a good time for me to go 'to the desert' and pray... You, Lena dear, Tom, Eugene and all beloved friends in Ireland are at the very core of this prayer. And all this will be done with St. Monica that is a shining example to me to never give up and always trust in God, against all odds!