Boreholes for Zimbabwe

            A few weeks ago we went to Zimbabwe to visit our senior humanitarian couple there, Larry and Debbie McMurdie.  They will be going home in May to Green Bay Wisconsin, and we wanted to get there to observe boreholes being drilled.  They picked us up from the airport, took us to a little place for lunch and then to our hotel to check in and unpack.  We stayed at the Harare (capital of Zimbabwe) Holiday Inn that was pretty nice.  In our 3 nights there, we were able to sit out by the pool several times and just enjoy a cold Diet Coke.

They came back and took us to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner.  Let's just say that it wasn't Asian Star or Joy Luck.

            Thursday morning McMurdies picked us up and drove us out to where 4 wells were being drilled.  They use the same company (Agatec Drills) for most of their projects and most of their boreholes are drilled in one day or less.

The photos here are from the four different boreholes drilled on Thursday in this neighborhood of about 1 square mile.

The drilling process was fascinating, especially for Walt.  They started drilling with an 8" diameter diamond drill.  After going down 20 feet, they pull out the drill and drop a 20' (6 meter) piece of 8" blue PVC pipe down the hole. Because the ground is softest and more unstable near the top, this PVC pipe ensures that the upper section of the hole won't collapse.  After this first 20 feet, they changed to a 6" drill for the rest of the hole.

When the drilling is completed, they drop 6" PVC down the entire depth of the borehole.  They start by sliding down a 6 meter (20 ft) piece of pipe.  When it is down, one man holds it in place with a steel wedge (see photo below) while they stand up another 6 meter piece and glue it to the first.  This process is repeated until they have dropped 60 (200 ft) meters of PVC pipe down the hole.  This 6" PVC pipe has grooves cut into it so the water can run into the center of the pipe from the surrounding soil.

The drill itself was driven by an electric motor but the most interesting thing was the large, second truck which carried a very large generator and air compressor.  As the hole was drilled, a high pressure jet of air blasted all the loose dirt, rock chips, fine powder, water or whatever, up and out of the hole.  Once they hit water, it was constantly blowing up a shower of water.  From that point on, each time they had to stop to add a new length of drilling pipe, it allowed water to fill up the bore shaft.  As they started back up, a huge geyser of water would shoot up out of the hole.

The compressor and generator truck

Spectators next to the drilling site.  They were making clay pots here.

This was these guys' delivery vehicle for their clay pots

Who needs expensive toys?

  We were out in some old neighborhoods and there were a lot of people standing around to watch.  Many of them shook our hands and thanked us for bringing them water.

Drilling in the maize field

The Agatech crews were drilling from 2 different rigs that day.  One of the rigs was 3 meters tall, so it could drill 10 feet before having to add a new section of pipe.  The other rig was 6 meters (about 20 feet) so it could drill twice that depth before having to stop to add a new section of drilling pipe.

Gary, owner of Agatech told us the larger rig used to be a portable missile launcher.

Each time they stopped to add a new length of pipe, they would lay out on the ground little piles of soil, rock chips or even mud to represent the core sample from each meter (3 feet) of depth.  They could tell exactly what they were drilling into from these samples.  They'd insert a little stick or twig (see the little sprig with leaves below), whenever there was a "break."  This meant a little space between layers where water could flow from the underground aquifers.  We saw very often that's where they'd start to find water.

Core Samples.  On the lower left it's just mud, following the "break."

 We watched two holes (about 1/2  mile apart) being drilled in the morning.  At both of those boreholes, they hit water within the first hour, but they would continue to drill to 50 -60  meters (about 200 feet) because the water at the greater depth was more reliable during times of drought.

We then went to lunch with Gary (the owner of Agatec), the McMurdie's and Gibson, one of their site monitors.

         

Larry McMurdie, Gary and his son Harry

After lunch we went to where they had just started a third borehole.  This was by far the hardest one to drill and took several hours.

In the afternoon the air was filled with fine white dust from very hard granite

 When we first got to that site, the area was filled with white dust that looked like fog.  The dust was from the drill trying to get through some very hard granite.  Of course, there were lots of people standing around wondering what was going on.  The lady that helps them find the water (the dowser), had told them they would find water at 40 meters.  So they kept drilling, which took several hours, and finally found water at 41 meters (about 130 feet).

She was asking for a lolly for her brother

            Debbie carries a bag of suckers with her and was passing them out to the little kids while we were waiting.  She was kidding around and said that the ‘African drums were drumming’ because the kids kept coming and coming.  She finally ran out of "lollys."  

The children were coming home from school

These folks were seated in the first class section

 When the big white trucks came, the people knew something good was coming.

Do you have one for me?

Going for a ride

She also had a bag of left over reading glasses that she got from the technical specialists that came from Salt Lake to do vision projects.  If people wanted glasses, she would have them read from a little eye chart card to try to determine the needed strength of the glasses.

So every 30 minutes or so an elderly man or women would come to her and ask if they could have some glasses.  Pretty soon there were women all around us that wanted glasses. 

Debbie with her sack of reading glasses

There were ladies walking by all afternoon. Debbie's supply of glasses had finally run out, but there were about 12 women standing in line at that time.  It was quite a sight.  Debbie always asked them how old they were to make sure they are over 45.  She said some of the women lie about their ages (they might have a baby on their back and say they are 50) and then admitted they were wrong when Debbie kept questioning them.  Debbie was telling us that some women would put on a pair, quickly look at her eye chart and say they were perfect even though they probably weren’t.  They wanted glasses because they thought they would look good in them.  Or they just wanted them because they were free.  Some of them may even sell them. 

The line up at for Debbie's "eye-glasses store"

Walt, Susan and Gary

Susan took pictures and the kids loved looking at the pictures of themselves

Mom sat on the truck tail gate taking pictures with her phone then showing them to the kids.

Susan is sitting on the tail gate of McMurdie's 4 X 4 extended cab pick up 

It was interesting that there was not much safety observed or required for the bystanders.  At one point in the morning as he was standing about 20 from the drilling rig, Walt got hit very hard just below the eye with a rock about the size of a marble. He thought it was going to draw blood, but it didn't.
They also didn't make much effort to keep all the kids and adults away from the drilling area.

We felt great about the day and we learned a great deal of the process of drilling boreholes.

These holes were drilled on Thursday and Gary and his crew were going back on Monday to start the process of installing the hand pumps and pouring the concrete aprons which surround each borehole.

Before these boreholes were ever started each little community had to organize a "Water Committee" to oversee their well and they also had to raise cash equaling 10% of the cost of the project.  This cash is kept by the community and is the beginning of their maintenance and repair fund for the well.

Also, before getting their well, the community goes through a Hygiene Training Course where they learn about disease, proper hand washing and so forth.



Friday morning Larry and Debbie picked us up and took us out to visit two of their recent projects. The first was a school for handicapped children which was out in the boonies. 

Elder McMurdie with the school director and one of the teachers

 At this school they had drilled a borehole and installed a submersible electric pump.  Usually when they install an electric pump, they also provide water tanks mounted up in the air on stands (two 5,000 liter tanks).  The water is pumped from the well up into the tanks, and the pressure from the gravity feed is sufficient to run their water system.

LDS Charities also provided some equipment to help them get a garden going.  They use some of the produce for their school and also sell some of it to other schools for added cash for their programs.

They can grow tomatoes year-round

They next took us to a health clinic that is really out in the middle of nowhere.  We drove about 30 km on a dirt road just to get to it.  Even though it appeared to be very isolated, it actually supported a population of several thousand people.  Because of the severe risk to new babies and mothers, they ask the pregnant women to come (walk several miles) to the clinic about a month before their babies are due.  The expectant mothers stay until their babies are born.  Otherwise, there is no way they would ever make it to the clinic after going into labor.  We have heard of that program several times and it apparently really helps the infant mortality rate.

Their new kitchen

At this clinic LDS Charities provided a new kitchen plus several beds, mattresses and bedding.  We also supplied paint for several of the rooms, but the community was responsible to provide the labor to paint their own buildings.

Dormitories for expectant mothers (note the solar panels)

After the community had done its part, the Church provided the rest of their equipment.   It certainly wasn't a spectacular place but so much more than they had before.


By the way, in some African countries, Humanitarian work is done in the name of the Church.  In some others, Humanitarian work has to be kept separate from the Church so work is done through either LDS Charities or Deseret Charities.  In Zimbabwe work is done through LDS Charities, and even the missionaries badges say "LDS Charities."

Bed, mattress and blanket provided by the Church

So we had a great time in  Zimbabwe.  We thought we'd never be going back there, though.  Little did we know.  But that's a story for another time.

Two travel days plus two days with the projects meant tons of work had piled up for us to catch up on back in Johannesburg.   But it is still very rewarding to see first hand just what can be done with Humanitarian contributions from around the world and a lot of work by our couples.