Today was our last day working in Marwa. Group A came back to a point where a young man was digging a shallow well (pictured yesterday.) The man had left to attend the funeral in town. He hadn’t struck water yet, but had dug an additional two feet down since we met him the day before. As we circled the well, dozens of Marwa city neighbors came to say hello. An elder man gestured to Tony that he would like to cut his beard, so that he could wear it on his head.
We encouraged as many people as possible to come to the meeting ground in town center. We held one final meeting which yielded still more new insight. The women in the town center are very comfortable around us and ready to share much about water use and aspirations for future Marwa. After this meeting, Group A and Group B joined together to say a heartfelt goodbye to the residents of Marwa. Hagenberger presented the community with a gift: school supplies for the children. He offered many reams of paper, pens and pencils, staplers, and binders. The village chairperson accepted the gift on behalf of the school.
Before we left, we asked to visit the intake points that the Pangani River Authority helped design. They’ve got three points at which the farmers redirect water out of the river through sluice gates toward their fields. It’s likely that similar structures will need to be designed to direct water into a wet well for our pump.
Lastly, one final chai. A small number of village officials ushered us into our meeting room. Only four days before, this room felt foreign and the people felt distant. Today, there is such a comfort to our interaction. Lots of laughing and embracing and clumsy Kimasai.
We spoke some final words, said our good-bye’s and left Marwa for the last time for this trip.
Presented with another gracious gift
Randall Berkley – Yesterday was a bitter sweet day as it was our last day visiting Marwa but it marked the end of the data collection phase. In the morning we were able to analyze some of the information we had already collected and start some of the engineering work which got the group excited. One thing I had not noticed before the day was how physically and emotionally draining the last few days had been for everyone in the group. Everyone wants to be here and is glad to be here but the journey has worn on all of us in different ways. We can’t wait to see the community in a non-business setting tomorrow in the market.
Sierra Heaton – I wish today wasn’t the last day in the community. We have been very productive due to their preparation of us coming. Even though we have a few days left in Same, we are using our time for other activities. Our relationship with the community has quickly progressed. When we arrived today, the people around were very friendly and wanted to take many pictures with us. Many laughs and smiles were exchanged.
There’s something about building a great relationship with a community that doesn’t even speak your language that is hard to describe. You can talk through body language and your eyes. You still can very much understand and relate to people. We finished up some social surveying of the sub-village of Marwa and went to see their irrigation canals. We had our last tea and food gathering and had some closing words. I told the community that even though I was here to help change their word, they have already changed mine. This trip, the community with its people and this country, has exceeded my expectations.
Alex McWhirter – It is incredible to see how people have grown in the short amount of time we have been here. I think several people have expressed that for as excited as we were to come here, it’s not necessarily the right word. This is not to diminish or retract any excitement anyone or I have expressed but it is hard to be excited to continually go visit a community that so desperately needs water and is also so ready for it. If I could, I would hand out as many water bottles as possible, but I know that isn’t the right process.
In our check-in meeting, I expressed anxiety that we had a lot of information but hadn’t processed any of it. We then took the first half of the day, in our “office” outside the Elephant Motel, to marry the two sets of information together. Seeing all of our scattered GPS points and pin pointing where things were relative to each other produced several sketches of different options. It struck a chord for many of us and helped us think about how to move forward. As our time in Marwa comes to an end, I know that I am leaving parts of myself here, but I didn’t expect to leave it in aged and storied eyes, in heavy but hopeful hearts, and in such readied hands.
Melanie McDonough – Marwa is a very interesting place. So much about their way of life is completely foreign to me. Their dress, their lack of family planning, the family dynamic, lack of technology, medical care, their language and more. Their dress consists of many kongas which are large rectangular pieces of fabric that both men, women, and children tie around themselves, often they are of beautiful fabrics. One man will take 2, 3, and even up to 10 wives and all live together in one Boma. A Boma is a cluster of houses and each wife gets her own house. The amount of children that one man has varies greatly- someone we met today had 3 wives and when I asked how any children first he said in the 20’s and then he came up with 33. Love is a different concept here. They are together less for love and romance and more for practicality and reproduction.
Technology is different as well obviously. Some men will have cell phones and some families have a solar powered light but for the most part they have no light or cell phones. As for medical care they have a dispensary which I do not quite understand yet but I think you can get very basic medications and there is a “flying doctor” that flies in once a month for women and children. Most women deliver their babies in Marwa however if there are complications with the pregnancy they will go into town and have their baby at a hospital. Their language is very beautiful and having only learned the greetings seems rather complicated.
All of these differences and yet our humanity is one in the same, we both deserve decency and respect. Somehow I feel like I have been able to connect with many people even though we cannot even communicate with our words. Everyone has been so genuine and beautiful towards each other and it has brought me to tears several times. Not because I am sad or feel bad for them but because I can see such beauty in our interactions. They are so grateful for us and I am so grateful for them.
Melanie making friends
Patrick Enright – The last day in the community left me with a happy and sad feeling. Playing with the children that were there during the day was incredibly refreshing and rewarding. They are so innocent and happy, it’s reassuring for humanity that children are essentially the same wherever you go. In our final community meeting we met some incredibly passionate women in a society where that is not the cultural norm, it gave me hope for their future. The women do so much for their families; getting water, cooking, cleaning, building the house, that we needed their input for the design of the systems.
Sometimes they are too shy or ashamed and don’t feel comfortable sharing the information we need. The last meeting did not have this feeling at all. Leaving the community was almost overwhelming. They poured their hearts out to us about how much they need water and that people have come through like us in the past yet they still do not have water. There is so much work to do and so many obstacles to overcome that not getting it done for the people that welcomed us with open arms would be devastating. I want to get this project done so badly not for myself, but for the people I met and befriended over the past week.
The Maasai even gave me a Maasai name, Saning’o, I haven’t figured out the meaning of it, but someone mentioned that it may mean a foreigner who grasps the language. As Tony said, although we were only there for a few days, in my heart I feel like I have been there for years. I am excited to get to work.
