Well Dig in Bolivia

We used some of the advertising money that this site generates to sponsor a well dig in bolivia. It took three days and was a great experience. The well pumps clean water to a small community.

We drove out to the community. It was a long drive on super dusty roads.
Here is a huge truck barreling down the road kicking up a huge dustStorm.

The members of the community live in these huts. One room for an entire family.

This was our swank hotel that we slept in. It has dirt floors and the chickens and cats would come in during the night and visit. One of the cats tried to fall asleep on the head of Costanzo.

My friend Costanzo who works with me at the home for street kids decided to avoid the sun by putting mud on his face. I think the system worked.

Riley is awesome. He is the local peace corp member in my town and the guy that leads all these digs. He will spend two years down here in boliva and dig many wells. He has been training Juan so that when he leaves Juan can lead digs for other communities.

The guy is a tank. It is great that he is becoming the new leader and is digging many wells around the area. He gets paid $10 a day. (And some days go from 7am to past midnight.)

This is one of my favorite pics from the trip.

Here is the drill bit that is used to drill the well. This system was invented
by a methodist missionary and he makes these bits by hand in his workshop.

These kids were great. They were amazed at the digital camera and would constantly point out things to take pictures of. "Sacar un foto" (Take a picture) was what I heard for three days straight.

Here is Juan helping drill the well. Water must be put in the hole at all times to help remove the loose pieces and keep the well from caving in on itself.

A local lady cooked us up some nice rice, tomatoes and potatoes. We didn't eat the chicken though because it was probably the most uncooked chicken we had ever tasted.

This guy got really dirty during the night section of the dig. He kept smiling though.

Looking for some tool or something.

Tons of people down here ride around on bikes. Here is a family riding into town. Cute kid.

All the community members worked well together to help build the well.

Riley started taking a few pictures of the working well. All the guys huddled around him and were quite impressed with his digital camera.

Water finally started coming out of the well after the guys fixed the pump.
This guy was so happy that he filled up a bottle with the (still somewhat dirty) water and took it back to his house to show his family.

This Kid rode by on his horse. He was working to round up all the cows and move them to a different field.

This project was great. The kids were excited to all get a chance to pump some water.

This what the finished project looks like. Clean water flowing out of the well
for all the community members to use.

DONE

At the end of the third day. Heading out of the community.

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