Land Title for our "Promised Land"

After three years of toil, and an incredible amount of patience and persistence, Restore Leadership Academy finally has it's land. John emerged from the Ministry of Lands office 1 week ago with title in hand, one of the only official land titles in Amuru District. Land is an incredibly difficult issue in Northern Uganda, and we've been able to greatly assist the district in building it's administrative infrastructure in order to get it done. It's a remarkable achievement, a tribute to John's steadfast resolve, and God's providence.

Upon returning to Gulu, we jumped on the bikes and headed to the future home of the school- it felt like entering the Promised Land. There's something about toiling at a task for three years, which makes it so meaningful to finally complete. It feels like relief.

Here's a video of John and I on that day, riding past our water well toward the future entrance of the school campus...almost all of the land you can see in the video is part of our 40 acres...

"Promised Land" from Blake Gaskill on Vimeo.

I can feel the page turning, see the fresh ink of this new chapter, the building of the school. You educators can smile with me, anticipating the ways this school will enrich the lives of children in this community for generations to come. This will be one of the few secondary schools in war-ravaged Amuru District, where the need is desperate: yesterday we had over 100 applicants for 30 spots in our freshman class. Restore Leadership Academy will be a launching point for so many amazing young people, the training ground for young men and women of virtue who will go on to write the future of Uganda.

It's been overwhelming how God's woven our stories together to bring us to this point, and He continues to call amazing people to join in this inspiring journey. It feels right, it feels like the time, and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves...

Nebbi Wells a Success!

Hello all!

Here's a summary how things turned out with the wells in Paidha, Nebbi District on the border of Congo: (it's a little technical, but perhaps nice change of pace from the normal blog diction)

Well #1 named “God Given” by the local community

Location: Two hills (10 minute walk) away from Sister’s Cathedral, a site chosen by her trusted Brother for good community access.

Diameter: 5”

Total Depth: 33’

Pump set at 31’ (12” above gravel pack)

Feet of water: 12

Notes: We had the well down to 39 feet, but made the mistake of pumping out the well to try to reduce hydrolock that was causing us to lose loads out of the auger. Ended up collapsing the well to 33’, and at the time our 6” casing hadn’t arrived, so we set the pump at 31’. Lesson learned. After two days of pumping, the water has clarified, but is still slightly cloudy from sand particles. The well cannot be pumped dry.

Well #2 (not yet named)

Location: Down the hill from Sister’s Cathedral, located in a cassava field owned by Sister. It’s about 150 feet away, uphill from the open water stream.

Diameter: 6” to 45’, then 5” to 53’

Total Depth: 53’

Pump set at 48’

Feet of water: 25

Notes: Drilled with 6” to 45’, tried to get 6” casing down, but had to widen hole with bailing wire tied around auger. Finally drove 6” casing down to 45 feet (with an upside down table, 1000lbs of gravel pack, and Bitek and I jumping on top- photo coming…) Set 4” casing down to 52’, then put 6” large gravel, followed by 2’3” gravel pack, bringing the level to the 50’3” depth mark. Set the pump a bit high because we had 4” of sediment settle in the well overnight, and wanted to play it safe (we also have 25 feet of water in good aquifer, and don’t anticipate being able to pump it dry. After pumping for a few hours, the clay cleared, and only the cloudiness from the sand particles remains. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to measure recharge rate. This is the location on which Sister plans to build a medical clinic, so we’re hoping that this well may clarify with time, and perhaps even support a solar pump sometime in the future.

Local youngsters helping out with the pipes

Brick and concrete foundation

We sure learned a ton about the fine art of working delicately in unstable layers, and about the importance (and challenge!) of using 6” casing. We’ve gone with a taller tripod, and 20-24 feet tubing sections for quicker transitions (and also due to a dearth of viable square to round end pieces!)

After pouring bleach, and leaving the first well for two days, the locals have already begun using the well. It has not cleared entirely of sand yet, but is already so much more pure than the muddy stream that it’s the best option, and the community is happy with it. We expect the water to become completely clear within a week or so, but regardless, the water should be free of the typhoid and other diseases currently wreaking havoc on the community members’ health.

Still thirsty?... a couple of videos:

Pumping Water...

Down Through the Layers...

A well deserved rest.

Happy New Year from Congo!

We spent New Year's Eve bouncing (literally) in the back of a truck from Gulu to a town called Paidha on the border of Congo. The journey took 9 hours, but the team (Kaben Kramer, myself, and 6 of the Young Men Drilling team of Restore Water) held tough, arriving at 1:00AM. I chased the truck on my Honda 250 dirt bike (Roxanne- the double Soul Safarian is still going strong!) Kaben's got a bruised tailbone, but you won't find him whining... he's been grinning the whole time- he lives for this kind of mission. Kaben is a water engineer from California, who arrived last week with his wife Jenn to lend a hand and some expertise to Restore Water's team. Jenn is connecting with the women leading Purse of Hope, and pouring into the girls' lives. It's a blessing to have them with us, and they're planning to move back here permanently in May!

Back to Paidha... the water situation is the worst I've seen, with people walking great distances to gather from dirty streams. The few wells that we have seen are either broken, contaminated, or locked with owners insisting on payment for water. After scouting for a half day around the area (including a quick walk into Congo), we selected our first drilling site, around 200 ft from the stream, on the downhill slope of one of the hills near town. The distance from the stream, and the lack of nearby latrines provides the best chances we've seen thus far from having a clean source of water. Here's a quick video of Kaben near one of the dirty streams:

We hit rock with the 6" auger at 15 feet depth yesterday, and battled it for the afternoon, calling it quits at dusk. Today we managed to dig around the rock with the 2" auger, and then proceed down with the 5" auger, to 25 feet, where we were thrilled to hit water!

The people of Paidha have been so overwhelmingly welcoming... and surprised to see Muzungus (white people), as it's extremely rare for whites to reach this town- we haven't seen a single one since leaving Gulu. It's been fun playing with the little kids who come up running and yelling (mundu, mundu! - the local word for white person). You get every possible reaction you can imagine, from standing stunned and dropping things, to smiling with delight and running up to shake hands, laughing with friends nearby at the rare sight. The babies and young ones are especially fun, usually either bursting out in fearful tears, or staring wide-eyed with wonder and smiles. They're learning quite a bit about us too... like what a sunburn is!

We're praying for these two wells, that we might have success, and perhaps pave the way for much needed attention to clean water in this area. The truth is, in our journey from Gulu we passed nearly 200 kilometers of places with great need for water, which has been overwhelming and daunting for Kaben and I. Such immense need... but we're looking for strength, and grateful for each step...

Do you guys believe in Lions?

We sure had a blast hanging out with John's folks, Dave and Janet Niemeyer, during their recent visit here to Uganda. The Niemeyers were kind enough to let me tag along on their adventures, which included an amazing safari through Murchison Falls National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous as we made our way though mud, muck, sand, grasslands, and bogs... and we were fortunate enough to see giraffe, warthogs, gazelle, monkeys, water buffalo, countless birds, and even a leopard and lion. The Niemeyers shot the following pictures from our Land Cruiser (in addition to that picture of the lion, which was resting after having killed a gazelle that we saw nearby):

I'm heading back up to Gulu tomorrow on my (Shane's really) recently fixed Honda XLR200. Just a small tweak to the fuel/air mixture in the carburetor and she'll be good to go...

It'll be nice to have wheels again around Gulu. The wells in Attiak were completed successfully, so we'll be scouting out the next project to complete before Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we've been trying to play as much Christmas music as possible to get in the spirit! (Otherwise, with the weather we have around here, you'd never know it's mid December!)

Much love from Uganda~

B.

Drilling wells in Attiak

I'm writing to you from a closet, plugged into solar power at the Catholic Mission in Attiak, Uganda. Restore Water team (comprised of 6 students and a teacher) and I are here, in hot, dusty Attiak near the border with Sudan, drilling wells for Sister Rosemary. She's one of the most amazing people I've had the honor of knowing. (Click on her name to see a deeply moving CNN's Heroes video of her story). She's been a wonderful friend to John and I, and we live just down the road from her tailoring center that can be seen in the video.

Water4, (you should click on the video at that link) another incredible organization working to improve access to clean water around the world, came to Gulu in May last year with Adrian Peterson, Tommy Harris, Mark Clayton, Roy Williams, and friends with Pros for Africa. Water4 taught us a new system of inexpensively drilling wells, drilled the first well on our new land for Restore Academy, and donated a complete set of tools which we are continuing to use to bring clean water to friends and the local community.

The Pros also held a sports clinic with the students of Restore Academy, a day they won't soon forget! We joined the Pros, Water4, and Sister Rosemary for many of these joint activities which occurred during their trip last year. We're blessed to have such an amazing community, and look forward to their return next March!

Back to Attiak... I'm still sweating in the closet... I learned when I was first here in 2008 that you simply have to let yourself sweat and stink. I nearly drove myself crazy with anxiety at first, as sweating in the States usually means something is wrong (either the air conditioning isn’t working, or you’re wearing too many clothes!). I’m just getting ready to head back to the well, have to bring the guys some oil for the pulleys, but I wanted to pass along a little piece I wrote this morning:

The dust billowed forth as the pickup jostled along the potholed road to Attiak yesterday, pipes and poles bouncing along, red marking rag flapping in the wind. The Young Men Drilling Team of Restore Water, grinning with eagerness, made their way north to strike water once more.

The journey began eight months ago, as the men from Water4 made their way to Gulu and into our lives. A promising new chapter was opened that day, in this redemptive story being lived out in Northern Uganda. Years of war and unspeakable violence have beset this land and its people for decades, and yet hope shines forth in God's providence. You can see it in their faces, hear it in the laughter of children, feel it in the cool cleansing water pouring forth from this healing land.

I awoke this morning to the glimmer of the day’s first light, and the sound of the boys rustling on their dusty clothes. Without a thought of breakfast, we made our way to the drilling site. We stomped the tall grass, offered up prayer, and turned our heads heavenward as the tripod and our hopes rose to meet God’s glowing dawn sky.

We’re at 9 feet now, and the 5” auger has been pulling up full loads of yellow-brown clay. I wish you were with us to hear the squeaking of the pulleys, the clicking of the sailing winch, the laughter of the boys as they yell out “Telu! Telu!” (Pull! Pull!)

Back in Uganda...

TO SEE THE VIDEO IN BETTER QUALITY, CLICK HERE

More to come soon...

Autumn Days~

The leaves are bursting with red, orange and gold, and the morning air is turning crisp~ Autumn has arrived in all its splendor, my first since 2007. It's been delightful~ bro's comforting soups, football with friends, and that faint smell of smoke in the air from wood stoves finding flame once more. The homes are warm and cozy, and the mountains resplendent in their white winter coats.

Despite the rain on Saturday morning, my Aunt Debbie and I squeezed one more riding day out of the season, as we rolled along the Sandy River Gorge up the Historic Highway to Crown Point.

I've been managing to keep pretty busy working odd jobs, enjoying the season and bouncing around with family and friends. I've also gotten to do a bit of house and dog sitting; my running buddy Lucy:

Fall in the northwest... a familiar comfort~