Today we received formal approval from the collector. This means that we have the necessary government approvals, which is fantastic! So we went out to the site and checked out the new location more closely. The villagers were waiting when we got there and they were so excited to begin! We called the Rotary donor, as he needed to give us permission before we could actually start doing any work. He agreed that we could progress at this new site and gave us permission to call the contractor. So we laid out the footings and discussed (ok, I use the term discuss here very loosely - we still don't have a translator, so we just basically made a bunch of gestures and said ok and somehow eventually we were all on the same page regarding the location of the new bore well). The villagers began digging a new bore well immediately when we agreed on the new location and they were almost finished by the time we laid out the footings for the columns (I will post some photos tomorrow because I have limited time on the internet today). We laid out the footings with string and a square (makes you miss some of the equipment we have back home), but it worked out fine.
But in essence, we are finally starting! It is so exciting after all of these setbacks! The villagers were so sweet - again the women brought us flowers for our hair and then later in the day they bought us pop (though where they got the pop from I have no idea). We felt so bad about them buying us pop - these people shouldn't be spending their money on us! But our communication is so limited that we had not way of telling them that without most likely being insulting. Every interaction with our villagers just reinforces that everything that we have had to deal with absolutely worth it to help these people.
In the evening, we were invited to attend a wedding. And wow, what a production! There were 15,000-20,000 people in attendance and the amount of camera crews, lights, flowers, etc - it was just mindboggling! The sound system alone made me feel like I was at a concert. It was a traditional Andhra wedding, and really an amazing experience for Deepa and I to see.
Tomorrow we will go to the village early to meet with the contractor. Things should start moving fast now!
1 comment:
kim ,we are not surprised that,even w/o a translator,it appears you will still succeed.the logistical nitemare/nightmare?-you decide-that you have overcome,should make delivering piping hot indian food to me,your biggest fan,pail/pale(joke) in comparison.much love and hunger,chas,tina,jason
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