May 14
Our team in Tloma says:
We need to purchase a goat to honor the village tradition of slaughtering and feasting on goat next to a successful well. Traditionally, when you strike water you need to slaughter a goat next to the well for celebration and thanksgiving together with the drillers. The village elders have emphasized that.
We have purchased a goat. The goat was taken to the well and slaughtered in keeping with the tradition. Some of our board members upheld the tradition in the US by going to a restaurant and having goat and other African foods.
Tony, one of our team members in Tloma, provided a little commentary in this video of the blessing of the goat and well. “The goat was blessed. And the goat blessed the well.” At the end he says, “Hapo sawa!”, meaning, “We good!”
May 18
Our team in Tloma says:
The well is 210m in depth, but the water level is at 159m from ground level meaning we have 51m (210m -159m) of water [running underground]. And this well yields at 15k [liters] of water per hour and recharges at same speed, keeping the water level constant.
A constant water level means we do not risk pumping the well dry.
The well has been capped and is ready for buildout once the go-ahead is received. The buildout consists of the installation of pumping equipment, tanks, and equipment for water distribution. (We need additional donations to complete this phase so that this life-changing clean water can be used by the Tloma families. You can help us accomplish this by donating via The Well page).
We are now waiting for the water quality report, which we expect to obtain within a week. Other local wells are producing 15,000-25,000 liters of water per hour. The volume of water the drillers have reported appears to fall within that range, which is a range that is acceptable to us.