Feb 23rd
Having arrived last Tuesday we took it easy the rest of the day: organising our living quarters, delivering a flash drive with important information from the Mongo office, Margreet going shopping, greeting old friends and getting acquainted with new neighbors. We had supper with the Burke’s (it was at their house in Mongo that we moved the water tank). Although it is cooler here (32), it feels more oppressive as there is no wind to move the air. Margreet’s nose was already getting plugged up and here it made sleeping so much harder.
Wednesday: Henk started his projects. First and foremost is revamping the swamp coolers in the attics of the apartment buildings (there are three blocks, each with 8 units). Thankfully one can walk around up there, taking care to stay on the cement walls and rafters. Already the first unit had major problems and Luke (the Chadian maintenance man) and Henk replaced a stuck valve, the sump pump and blew out the waterlines. That was enough for one morning!
Luke works from 7 till 1, so Henk will have to adjust his schedule to accommodate his. In the meantime Margreet has been answering emails, looking after groceries, making sure that the fridge was replaced with a working one. (the freezer side was doing ok, but 23 degrees in the fridge compartment seemed a bit too much!).
Thursday: Margreet slept poorly, what with her now very stuffed nose. She found that the Otrivin bottle that we had taken along was completely empty (evaporated?). Thankfully someone was able to purchase it locally and she is looking forward to a more restful night!
Henk and Luke were up in the attic again. The first two units are working now! Starting on the third one they realized that the water supply just wasn’t there. While Luke was taking care of pumping out a cistern, Henk was trying to reroute the waterline and found that one of the valves was stuck in the closed position (of course the handle turns nicely). It really is one of the most challenging – read frustrating- things here: one cannot find tools or parts that will last. It is not uncommon to have something break right out of the box, whether it is door locks, towel racks, light switches or plumbing parts. They will get back at it tomorrow!
The veggieman has been coming to this centre since 1959!!! His nickname is 'Nana' as he used to give the children a banana...
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