Useful work!

Peru is doing a Rural Sanitation Survey (which includes water systems), hopefully in every community of every district of every province of every... you get the idea.  Some are prioritised because of extreme poverty in those areas, so people are being specifically employed to do those.  But the others all need doing too - and the sooner they get done, the more likely those areas are to get a higher budget next year from an incentives scheme.

So partly through my diploma course, and partly through the government workshops I've been doing, I've got involved.  The local government people responsible often don't have the time or the equipment or the understanding of the survey... so I'm helping fill in the gaps.

This water source was collected in a covered tank - which was destroyed by a landslide in the rainy season

It's stunning countryside - here we are are walking back down from the water source

Asking the village water board about how they manage the system

Each family has one of these taps outside their house

President of the water board

On the way to another water source...

The whole village was working to repair the pipework the day we visited, and we were part of an impromptu meeting.  I talked about how water is necessary for life, health/cleanness, and growth - and how this can teach us about God, who also is the source of life, forgiveness, and growth.  I talked about the opportunities I hope this survey will provide in terms of projects to help with their water system.  I even managed to throw in a little bit of Quechua!

I did the surveys in Curahuasi and stayed with my friend Ruth - sadly she's just left so I think I might be the only Brit in Apurímac.

It feels amazing to be doing work that is genuinely needed.  So much of my time is spent learning and developing skills to build a good project in the future - but it's lovely to have a positive useful contribution to something that needs doing now!