Armenia Again

This morning we went to the zoo, where we saw spider and howler monkeys, toucans, peccaries, jaguars and other cats, many other native animals and birds. Afterward we had lunch at the world-famous Cheers restaurant. It was a nice break from our travels from village to village.

After lunch the Farragut group left to hike and swim at the Blue Hole park across the road from Jaguar Creek. We did some shopping in Belmopan, to stock up on Marie Sharp hot sauce and jellies. Dale needed to organize materials for her health care meeting in Armenia, so we stopped to get a drink in a restaurant on the edge of the market. I was amazed to find that we were on the periphery of a wireless internet server, probably from one of the nearby internet shops.

Dale dropped off at Armenia for her meeting, while Ed and Janice and I went on to the river to test the water. Its pH was very high, but hardness and alkalinity were within limits for treatment without reverse osmosis. That was good news. We didn’t have time for the 48-hour bacteriological test, but we wouldn’t assume even with a good sample that the river would remain uncontaminated.

In Armenia, Dale met with Filberta and Odelia, the health care workers, and the Peace Corps worker. Besides water, their major health issues are worms—tapeworms, “beef worms” (bot-flies), and hookworm. Dale discussed educating the people about how to avoid tapeworms and hookworm, and she got a list of needed medical supplies. Once again we faced the problem that giving them medicine would help only as long as the medicine lasted, since they will become re-infected immediately.

During the meeting, children began to gather to see what was going on. Robin sat outside and chatted with them, and then she read a book I had bought at the zoo. It was in a version of Creole, which would be appropriate in Unitedville, but the kids didn’t really relate to it because they speak either Spanish or Mayan in addition to English. But they did enjoy clustering around Robin and getting her attention. Eventually, some of the kids showed up with craft items their mothers had made, so we had to buy some baskets and beads. One child had things his father had carved before his recent death.

I had gone to a Government ministry to try to get a geological map so our experts at home could try to get some idea where there might be water. If there was a map, it was at another ministry, but I had been routed to a woman who appeared to be the ministry’s manager of the Armenia well project. She told me that they had found water at 230 feet and then cased the well and screened it at 240 feet, where they didn’t get water. She said they were hypothesizing that they had a thin layer of water and had blocked it off with the casing, so they were going to pull the screen up ten feet to see if they could get water. This would happen in the next week or two. As an aside, the water was contaminated with bacteria. The story at Armenia was that they had talked to the drillers, who said they well had produced and then gone dry, and they were going to drill another 100 feet. Also, they said the International Development Fund was putting the well in, not the government. So one of our problems is not only finding out who to talk to but determining what the truth is after you talk to people. I think maybe you have to hear enough stories that you can recognize the truth when you observe it. I guess that’s a feature of Belize.

Pedro arrived for our second meeting, and we thought he may have been a bit overwhelmed to be greeted by six of us. Of course, he was at the end of his work day, on a job in which he teaches jungle survival to British soldiers. We talked more about the water tank that they need, and agreed that until we know what happens with the well in the next couple of weeks, we can’t decide what size tank we need. We agreed that Antonio, from Jaguar Creek, would be a good project foreman, and Pedro thought Jaguar Creek might be able to get a church group to come and build the pad for the tank. We think the job can be done for around $5000, including the tank. Then we would have to find out whether the water would be clean enough to drink. We left with a good feeling that with God’s guidance, our congregation can accomplish something really important to the Armenia villagers.

Chuck