FINALLY, last week Rogelio, Pedro, Rito -- the electrician -- and our volunteer coordinator, Ben, went up to El Porvenir to test the water system which pumps water from the co-op well UP 3 kilometers (with a 300 m rise!) to the co-op. The pipes were flushed out from above and below, then reconnected, and the guys went to the bottom of the mountain to turn on the pump. It didn’t start.
The switch was faulty, and luckily Rito was able to disconnect it and wire it directly to the breaker. Since there are no telephone land lines and unreliable signal for cell phone communication, those at the bottom of the hill used a little appropriate technology and flashed mirror signals (we couldn’t make this up if we tried!) to the folks at the top to let them know the pump had been started, then the top of the mountain flashed a mirror back to say they’d started timing the process. After watching the pump’s pressure, they began walking the line back up the hill, checking for leaks and wondering if there was water at the top yet.
About two thirds of the way up the hill, Ben’s cell phone suddenly got a signal and a call came through. It was Felice from the Gettysburg-Leon sister city project which participated in funding this project along with Pangea Giving and Bucknell students and engineers. When Ben answered the phone, Felice – who was two hours away in León – said “Congratulations! The engineers at Bucknell were so pleased to know there is water at the top of the hill!” René, the co-op’s vice president, was at the top of the hill with cell phone reception, and when the water hit the top of the hill, he called Mike at the CDCA in Ciudad Sandino to let him know. Mike called the engineers at Bucknell in
Thanks to a whole lot of work from a lot of people, the folks at El Porvenir now have reliable access to potable water…something which will make a huge difference in the everyday lives of these folks, especially in their health. -- Becca
