Tuesday June 9, 2009
Tuesday was a relatively easy day. The three of us went up to the line to move the string marking the pipeline route. The jungle was peaceful compared to the previous day. On our way back down the hill, we met up with Mr. Benjamin and Derrick at the storage tanks. We trekked back up the hill to show them the progress that had been made. Tuesday night was pretty normal as we played cards in the living room. This was the first night we met Marie from Limbe.
Wednesday June 10, 2009
After getting almost no sleep due to constant wailing outside, Mark and I sat down to crunch the numbers and prepare the order for pipe and other supplies. After breakfast, Mark headed off to Kumba to place the order as well as run some general errands. Brian and I relaxed for most of the day. We learned that the wailing was from the death of an older woman who lived across the street from our place. Brian and I attended the funeral. It was nothing like a funeral in the US. Very few people cried. Other than a few somber words from the reverend, it was a celebration of the woman’s life. Songs of joy rang out for most of the evening and will continue for one week after her death. The next couple of nights we heard them singing and drinking palm wine into the early hours of the morning.
Thursday June 11, 2009
Thursday was the second day of community digging. Yet again, each quarter had a great turnout of men to continue the work. Mark was attending the water committee meeting so I took charge of the quarters toward the catchment
while Brian started near the tanks. No sooner did I reach Boa Camp’s section of the line than it started to rain. By rain, I mean it was a torrential downpour. Within minutes, I was soaked to the bone. But that didn’t stop me from digging. After about 20 minutes with no end to the storm in sight, the leaders of Boa Camp decided to “close” for the day. As we walked back toward the tanks, many other quarters quit for the day as well. It was far too muddy above the stream crossing to get any more digging done.
Tuesday was a relatively easy day. The three of us went up to the line to move the string marking the pipeline route. The jungle was peaceful compared to the previous day. On our way back down the hill, we met up with Mr. Benjamin and Derrick at the storage tanks. We trekked back up the hill to show them the progress that had been made. Tuesday night was pretty normal as we played cards in the living room. This was the first night we met Marie from Limbe.
Wednesday June 10, 2009
After getting almost no sleep due to constant wailing outside, Mark and I sat down to crunch the numbers and prepare the order for pipe and other supplies. After breakfast, Mark headed off to Kumba to place the order as well as run some general errands. Brian and I relaxed for most of the day. We learned that the wailing was from the death of an older woman who lived across the street from our place. Brian and I attended the funeral. It was nothing like a funeral in the US. Very few people cried. Other than a few somber words from the reverend, it was a celebration of the woman’s life. Songs of joy rang out for most of the evening and will continue for one week after her death. The next couple of nights we heard them singing and drinking palm wine into the early hours of the morning.
Thursday June 11, 2009
Thursday was the second day of community digging. Yet again, each quarter had a great turnout of men to continue the work. Mark was attending the water committee meeting so I took charge of the quarters toward the catchment
while Brian started near the tanks. No sooner did I reach Boa Camp’s section of the line than it started to rain. By rain, I mean it was a torrential downpour. Within minutes, I was soaked to the bone. But that didn’t stop me from digging. After about 20 minutes with no end to the storm in sight, the leaders of Boa Camp decided to “close” for the day. As we walked back toward the tanks, many other quarters quit for the day as well. It was far too muddy above the stream crossing to get any more digging done. Below the stream crossing, it was a different story. The quarters in this area had less rain and less mud. These quarters continued digging the 
rest of the morning. I stayed with two quarters for the remainder of the morning, digging whenever I could. Angola quarter had the prestigious honor of being the first quarter to complete their section of digging to the required depth. They were very determined to finish on Thursday and celebrated the occasion with some palm wine.
rest of the morning. I stayed with two quarters for the remainder of the morning, digging whenever I could. Angola quarter had the prestigious honor of being the first quarter to complete their section of digging to the required depth. They were very determined to finish on Thursday and celebrated the occasion with some palm wine. Thursday night we went out with Marie and Peter to a local bar. We played a mix CD created by Justin Forzano (an ETHOS Cameroon alum) for Wise Dog at the bar. They got part of the way through it before switching back to their video CD’s. (oddly it was right after they played “American Boy”) Apparently, it was at this gathering that Marie fell madly in love with Mark. Since that day, she’s texted him a few times and sent him three emails professing love at first sight. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time any of us receive confessions like this.
Judging by the amount of trench completed on Thursday, we estimated it will take a little more than one day to finish digging. Trench completion should occur by next Thursday. Pipe is scheduled to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday and will be delivered directly to the village. The timing looks promising for us to begin installation next Friday. We will most likely form a small crew and start gluing pipes on Friday and Saturday. All pipe should be in place by the 22nd. The next step will be installation of more complicated piping at the storage, aeration, and sedimentation tanks by a plumber. After that is complete, we’ll leak test then backfill the trench.
Our hope is that the next time we are in Kumba (weekend of the 26th) the line will be in place from the catchment to the storage tanks. It may end up that the tanks will be the controlling factor in our schedule. The carpenter seems to be taking his time finishing the last large concrete placement. This aggressive schedule will allow us a week of wiggle room if needed. It will also give us plenty of time to research projects with Mr. Benjamin for next year’s ETHOS Cameroon group. So until next time, this is B-Square (nickname courtesy of Wise Dog) signing off from wet and wonderful Cameroon.
Left: Making chin-chin (a mini doughnut) snack with everyone including Marie.
Right: Water committe member, myself, and Moses after Moses used a Stihl size 70 chainsaw to cut through a tree along the path of the pipeline
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