A Cup of Cold Water

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42 (NIV)

It is really HOT. We are very near the equator in Uganda and the sun is directly overhead. Shade is scarce and we are dripping with sweat. The well drilling is being severely hampered by the fact that we can’t get enough water to make the drilling mud, and we can’t drill without it.

It’s January, the middle of the dry season, and left to our own resources we would not find the necessary water. Luckily the Bakiga tribe is very resourceful and hard working. They gesture us to follow them on foot. We walk and walk and walk for about 3 miles before they stop. So where’s the water? One of them plucks a papyrus root out of the ground and shows us that it is moist. He offers it. We decline politely. He plunges it in his mouth and sucks hard, and then smacks his lips as though he has just savored nectar. Water!

We explain that we need free flowing water for drilling. The tribe huddles and there is much discussion and gesticulation in various directions. A decision is made and off we go, pushing through 10-foot reeds. It seems we are struggling onwards for hours. Gradually the ground is becoming soft and squishy. Someone produces a hoe and starts to dig. It looks like we’ve found oil. It must be oil because it is thick and black. But wait–the surface of the oil is moving. One of the tribe scopes up a handful and shows us that it is, in fact, water with hundreds of tadpoles, little fish, and other creatures of indeterminate species eating each other and fighting for survival in the palm of his hand. We are shocked but then a 10 year old boy bends down, scoops up the living soup with both hands and swallows it in one gulp. He grins. The tribe tells us this is the first gulp of water he has had for three months. He’s been staying alive by sucking papyrus roots.

We shake off our shock and, more determined than ever, go to work to dig a hole large enough to allow a sufficient depth of “water” to allow us to pump it into the tanks on our 1-ton truck. The tribe goes to work and hacks a road for the truck.

Normally it takes 15 minutes to fill our tanks. From this black hole it takes two hours. Pump and wait for the level to recover. Pump and wait for the level to recover. It’s interminable. Then comes a heart-rending dilemma. Hundreds of children gather round pleading to drink the living, black soup straight from the pump hose. We agree and set up a line for them to climb up on the truck and drink the stinking concoction from the hose as we pump it into the tanks.

Finally the tanks are full and we set off for the drill site up on the hill beside the church and school. We’ve never operated the rig with tadpoles and fish in the drilling mud so we’re not sure how the system will work….but it does.

We go back to re-fill the tanks on the truck only to find that, to our dismay, the hole we dug is no longer there. The Bakiga laugh at our concern. They reach down and lift the reeds they had woven into the hole to cover it. As this “net” of reeds emerges from the black liquid, it is filled with tiny fish, tadpoles, and even some larger fish feeding on their prey. The villagers dive into action and harvest this minute catch. They ask for our empty water bottles and fill them with all the little creatures that will fit. The creatures too large to go into the water bottles go into their pockets and clothing crevices.

We fill the truck tanks once more and return to the drill site. We drill and pray…drill and pray. This place is dry and the water table by the church is deep. Finally at 150 feet we hit water. Everybody shouts out praises to God!

We need a week before we can double check the water recovery rate and we ask for prayer that it will be good. Then we will be able to finish the well, and these dear brothers and sisters in Christ will have a clean water source available all year round.

And by His grace, God has answered our prayers. Yesterday Herbert went to check on the newly installed pump. It is working and producing clean water right outside the church and the primary school…at the very end of the dry season. This is a really good time to test that we have reached good, clean water.

From 150 feet down the water will be cold and clean ”…a cup of cold water”!