Nakuru: Dedicating Newly Drilled Water Wells

We came into Nakuru a few days before the workshop
begins, so that Davide could dedicate two wells
provided by the charity he manages:
Comitato Mani Aperte

The first ceremony begins with the school children
who would directly benefit from the water
singing and dancing their way toward us.
They sing about how important clean water is to them,
(Sixty-percent of all diseases there are water born)
They sing about how grateful they are for the water

One of the song and dances is about the prevention of
AIDS and how, if you do not do all you can do to
prevent it, you will DIE ... and as they sing the
word "die," they lean way back and slide
their right hands across their throats in a slicing
motion, as if they are cutting their throats
with a knife. Pretty Dramatic, eh?!?

Davide and David Maina (Life Water Kenya)
dedicating water well.

Davide sharing with the people how grateful
we are to be able to serve them
by providing the clean water so necessary
to their health and well-being.

CJ Doner joined us for
the first four days
of our trip.

Each of us were asked to plant a tree
as part of the dedication ceremony.
CJ decides to act as if the ground is made
of stone, which the children thought was
hilarious. He has an amazing ability
for connecting with children.

Two Firsts fpr me:

I had never participated in a dedication service
where the children, en masse, came in on
their day off!

This group of children wrote a poem for
me and Davide extolling our greatness and
generosity in bringing them clean water.

At least that is what David Maina told us:
Not knowing Swahili, they could have been saying
"Are you believing these two White Boys made
us come to school on a holiday?!?!?"

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008