Laundry Day

Mondays are laundry days in New Orleans. At least that's what Peggy has always told me. That's the day, too, for Red Beans & Rice. You put the beans on in the morning and let them simmer all day while you wash the clothes. Judging by the ubiquity of various combinations of beans & rice or rice & beans in Belize, every or any day could be laundry day.
Today was a different kind of Laundry Day for me. Of course, there's a story behind it.
Last night we hosted the Peace Corps volunteer from Armenia at dinner and worship. Elsa is a delightful young Christian of Indian descent. Her parents immigrated from Kerala to Michigan before she was born and are puzzled why they worked so hard to leave one poor developing country only to have their daughter volunteer to return to another one decades later. She tells them it's because they raised her right. I tend to agree. But I'm biased. I offered to take Elsa home after worship last night. "Home" for Elsa happens to be the north end of the Laundry Building we built in 2005.
In 100+ degree heat we mixed and hauled concrete, sweated by the gallon, and nearly lost Tim to electrolyte imbalance when we ran out of Gatorade. That laundry never washed a load of clothes. In 2008, we decided that if rainwater was available clothes would be washed. We installed three 600 gallon tanks to collect water from the roof of the laundry building. No clothes were washed. We chalked it up to (expensive) lessons learned.
Last night, knowing my history with that building, Elsa invited me in to look around. It's now a comfortable wood walled 1 room 18x15 apartment with a bathroom (flush toilet!) and shower. She's got a great enclosed porch of the same size right outside her front door. Elsa told me that when she insisted on repairs to the Peace Corps latrine last fall, the new village council chair, went one better and turned the Laundry Building into a lovely apartment. I noticed a lone washtub in the corner of the porch and asked the obvious question: What happened to the other 5? She said the chairman had distributed them to creeks throughout the village.
I couldn't resist going outside and inspecting the water tanks, describing to Elsa how they'd been intended to work. The center line to the laundry had been hacked off, allowing the rainwater from the roof to simply drain right out of the tanks. The water spigot on the end had also been hacked of, insuring that nothing could be used. All this was disappointing, but easily reparable. I convinced Elsa to introduce me to the village chair this morning.
Dale and Elsa and I met with Oris first thing. We talked about medical clinics and fences and SIF funding ($100,000 Bz) to bring a water line from the river to the village water tank. We also talked about the water shortage. The village has been without reliable water for months, and has no place to store it. Oris also has no budget to repair the tanks. If they were functional, I asked, could you keep them full? Oh yes, was the answer with utter confidence. I committed to fixing the plumbing before we left if he would commit to keeping the tanks full and working with the school to keep their cisterns full too. He agreed. With fervor.
We really wanted to see what had become of the old laundry tubs. We prevailed on Oris to show us. He said it was a bit of a walk, so Chuck and Dale and I took Oris in the Expedition to a small spring at the end of a road where a woman was doing her laundry on a rock next to the laundry tub. When asked if we could take her picture, she said no. We then went to a second spring with two laundry tubs and a family using one for their laundry. The teenager shyly agreed to let us take her picture, but then refused to look at the camera. Satisfied, we returned to the school and dropped Oris off at his shop next door.
After a shopping trip to Belmopan for parts, a delightful presentation by all the kids at the school, and a feast of empanadas and something that starts with an "s" and FRESHLY squeezed orange juice all prepared by parents. we finally managed todo a little plumbing to fix the tanks and finish off the day.
For $130 Bz in parts and about an hour of work by me and Chuck and Kathy the water tanks are once again functional. Don't know how long that'll last, but I've got a bit more confidence this time around. The laundry building has found a viable use. The laundry tubs are providing value to the community on their terms. The people need the water. Maybe third time's a charm...
- dan