Being Taira...............Bringing Water

Hurahhhh!

The water tank has been installed and is now working at the orphanage! I know that Lucy, the director is happy but even more I think the kids are extactic! Thank you to all those who donated money to help make this project possible!

Water here is very expensive for the poor as most of it is hauled in small lots at exhorbatant rates. Now the orphange is hooked into the local water supply and will be able to store their weekly ration of water in the 4000L tank.

This means the kids don't have to go to the school to wash clothes or bathe. Now they can wash up before bed and leave for school in the morning clean. As well most of their cooking can be done at the orphanage instead of the school which had a myriad of problems associated with it. This also means everyone can make one less journey into the slum.....always a good thing!

There will still be a need of hauling water to the school by hand. This is done by the older boys, I often would see a pair of the older Sidai boys carrying a small black barrel between them, weighing about 30 lbs. The boys, thin and shoeless would walk as far as they could before stopping to rest for a brief moment, then continuing on. This isdone almost daily, carting water to a larger barrel at the school, where they had been doing a majority of their cooking and washing as this is where they also use to live.

The day after installing the tank I was fortunate to see many of the Sidai Orphans in church performing a poem. Lead by John, a keen 10 year old, who is all of 3 feet tall; he coached his "family" with the passion of a trained performer, to recite with him the crucification of Christ. I felt like a proud parent as the kids, without an adult to coach or supervise, organized themselves in front of the huge congregation and acted out their poem. It made it worth it to have to sit through 5 hours of Easter service in Swahili!!!

I am very glad to say that slowly but surely the kids of Sidai are moving onto a better place.