I Thought the Bats had Deserted Us

June 19, 2012

In March, after dusk, they swooped in and out of our tukuls, all stealth and speed, eating the bugs before they could get us. It was easy to see they knew what they were doing, their radar never wrong. When I used to stay on the JDF Lost Boys Clinic compound, the bats darted around us as we sat outside the dining room. The wind whistled beneath their wings. 

But now, in June, at the ASAH School, the bats aren't so prevalent, though we have plenty of flying bugs for them to eat. Last night, my door open, the light out except for my computer screen, a lone bat visited, like old times. I almost hated to close the door.

I'm beginning to like the cocoon. The net over my bed is a filmy pale green with a pale pink tie. Now that I've figured out how to drape it so I can sit up and read, or type on this IPad which lights the net in an eerie manner, I'm quite comfy. 

Catching up on business: our 5000 L water tank which arrived from Uganda a year ago with a large puncture - in the shape of a thumb and forefinger sized "7," was repaired on set up on its platform last fall. The repairs held for a while, then failed. Zablone and his assistant "Toy" (that probably isn't the correct spelling - they're both Kenyan - few Sudanese have skills in plumbing, electrical, building, etc.) have repaired it repeatedly with epoxy and pieces of plastic. They empty the tank. Toy climbs inside, Zablone on the outside. 

When I arrived this June, the tank was leaking badly, requiring refilling twice a day instead of every three days with the normal use - twelve girls, five staff, and myself living onsite. They fixed it again. Now we are waiting to see if we can use a loaner - an asset left behind by another NGO. It's final resting place is in dispute, the county government having "seized," though not taken possession of these assets. By rights, they should go to the JDF clinic. If all turns out all right, they'll loan us the tank until we can get a new one after the rainy season, or find a more permanent type of repair.

On the Maintenance To Do list for the compound:
1. Tukul repair: Taking down the lovely fabric lining the walls and ceilings, knocking off the termite soil. Painting the wood with anti-termite solution. Replastering the adobe inside and out where it has been damaged by rain or just plain use. Sometimes it simply falls off in chunks. Replacing the fabric on the walls and ceilings. Touching up the white and blue paint on the outside of the tukuls.
2. Adding a door to the iron sheet storage building that was added to our temporary iron sheet kitchen.
3. Adding a concrete apron around the new two room building, which includes one room for accommodation and one room for the office. Tiling the office floor with the tile leftover from the toilets and showers. Finishing the windows. Staining the mahogany doors.
4. Putting new plumbing parts on some of our fixtures. Some of the  parts we installed originally were procured by an "experienced" logistics guy who worked for IRD, the NGO that is now gone. The parts are low quality and aren't holding up well. 
5. Continuing to develop our large garden where we are raising greens, ground nuts, maize, watermelon, okra, beans, and other goodies.
6. Our new tailor, just hired, will get our sewing machines running and start teaching the girls to mend, sew, and tailor clothing.
7. Figure a way to keep, Chill, our gazelle, initially raised by Andrew and Miriam Mara, and now devoted to our matron, Daruka, out of the garden. She's particularly fond of the groundnuts (peanuts).

Stuff I've been doing with the girls at night:
1. Showing them ASAH videos on my computer. They love to see themselves.
2. Making and showing slideshows of the pictures I've taken of them since I arrived, of my family, and such. There will be more slideshows to come. I've pictures from all my visits going back to 2007. I've identified some of our girls in those pictures from five years ago, when they were pretty little.
3. Fetching a magnifying makeup mirror so that Martha Ayen could get the bug out of her eye, and being treated to giggles, guffaws, and chortles, as they moved their heads from side to side, and around, drawing the mirror in close and pushing it away. It was a hot potato in their hands and made the trip around the twelve of them five or six times in fifteen minutes. 

It rained during the day, and in the evening, I swear the frogs were calling out "Globe Hold," not that that means anything, but it sounded very clear, deep and low but enunciated. 

Welded

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Maduk is welding the elevation structure for our 5000L water tank. Soon workers will begin digging four – three-meter holes for the legs as the structure will be set into the ground for stability. The structure is huge and will require a good number of people from the community to set upright, carry to the insertion site, and to plant. I think they'll use ropes and trees for leverage. I hope to get this on videotape before I leave.

We've confirmed that the balance of our plumbing and electrical and other materials will arrive on Friday morning—wall and floor tile, outdoor lights, paint, soap dishes, toilet paper holders and so on.

We worked out a temporary agreement with IRD to share fuel costs for running the generator to get our water and power onsite. On Monday in Juba I will meet with IMA staff. IMA will be taking over the IRD site, so we will work out a new arrangement with them.

Late in the afternoon, John Dau (http://johndaufoundation.org/) asked if he could visit our site, and we made the walk. As we approached and he caught sight of the fence, he said, "This is your fence?! This beautiful fence is yours? This huge property is yours?" As we entered, he took a look and he said, "This is beautiful here." I showed him around the staff housing, the storage, and inside the only one of our tukuls that wasn't locked. John pointed out signs of termites, showing me the soile they have already deposited on some of our wood rafters. The solution is to have our security guard check weekly and knock off any soil that appears. We will treat the wood with anti-termite solution when it arrives—we have been waiting for one of the last three flights to bring it.

John was impressed with our toilets and showers and sinks. The clinic has nothing like this. He said to me, "I knew you were working on something here, but I hadn't paid that much attention—this is much more than I expected." And he congratulated us on our progress. Just wait until he sees what 50 educated ASAH girls will accomplish in the future!