LWI Pump Repair camp Aug 24-28

Tom and I signed up for a training class to learn how to repair water wells/pumps through our new friends at LWI. The class was held north of Houston and lasted for 4 days. I was the only girl there in a class of 14 guys! We got to wear hard hats, and leather gloves and handle big, heavy tools-arrgh argghh!! We had to diagnose why the pump wasn't working, completely disassembled 12 different types of water pumps, fix them and put them back together again. (The instructors would 'break' them during the night) They did this three different times-so we got plenty of hands on experience fixing all 12 types of pumps.

The instructors were great guys-and we really learned a lot from them. Every morning we met at 7:30 for devotions, then breakfast, and then out into the hot Texas sun all day until 5pm. Then dinner, an evening class on different topics like water testing and chlorination of water, and then fall asleep exhausted until the next morning. The guys were great-they all treated me like I had a brain and was not just the 'token girl' and I got to handle the pipes and c clamps and get dirty like everyone else!

LWI trains people to go out into areas of the world and fix the water wells that are in disrepair.

The thing that struck me the most, was their constant admonishment to us to be culturally sensitive and respectful of the people we were there to help. And also the possible life and

death consequences of what we were doing with these wells. If we accidentally drop something down the shaft, or are not able to repair it- we can just get in our truck and be on our way, knowing that "oh well, we tried". But for the people left behind, they have no water-and very likely some of their elderly or small children will die. This thought was very sobering to us, and reinforced the gravity of what we are attempting to do.

The men who came to LWI Pump Repair Camp were from all over the country, and had a variety of reasons for being there. Some were preparing for mission work like Tom and I.

Some had already been on a water-mission trip with LWI and wanted to learn more.

Some came only because God laid it on their heart to come-but have no idea why or what God may be leading them into.....and that is what is so exciting about all this I think.

Ordinary people, like you and I, if we open ourselves up to be willing-there is no telling where God will lead us! What an adventure! What a privilege!

The next step of our training will be LWI Drilling Camp in September. I can't wait to drill down and strike water and have it gush up out of the earth all over us! Now THAT will be a blast!

Poultry 101 class......

Since there won't be a Brookshires grocery store just down the street from me in Arba Minch-or fast food take-out either, I figured that I better learn how to embrace a bit of pioneer-style living and learn how to raise chickens! If I can't learn how to cook Ethiopian dishes, at least we can always eat eggs!

So I enlisted the help of my good friends Susan and Joyce and went to my first day of 'chicken school'. I brought my notebook and a prop to learn chicken anatomy with. As Susan's husband Bill was quick to point out-"Teresa, that's not a chicken-that's a duck!" ANOTHER reason why I need chicken school....Anyway, Joyce grew up on a farm in Minnesota (another reason to like her!)

and she knows all about feeding, egg laying and neck wringing! (actually, she explained a quicker method, but for those of you who are squeemish at heart, and not to offend any PETA people out there in blogdom-I will leave that method up to your imagination!) She then went on to describe plucking and cooking. I think we will just stick to eating eggs!!

Solar Cooking

Flies, germs and Tippy Taps !!

One of the things we learned about in the previously mentioned post about LWI Health and Hygiene class (you know, the one about flies and all the nasty germs they carry)

is the importance of keeping the water safe from contaminants. Germs, germs, germs-those nasty invisible things that wreak havoc with digestive systems, and very often in the elderly and small children can lead to death.

Simple measures such as washing hands before cooking or eating can prevent deaths.

LWI taught us how to make a simple contraption called a "Tippy Tap" out of twine and a empty plastic milk jug. You fill the milk jug with clean water, make a strategically placed pencil hole, and tie the Tap between two trees and then tie a footpiece or loop to the jug.

When you push down on the footpiece, the jug tips and a stream of clean water flows out.

Ta-da !! Now those nasty 'ol flies can't get in your water and make you sick! And for the deluxe version, they have a method of attaching a bar of soap in a plastic cup using an old nylon and then tie it to the Tippy Tap. Ingenious !! My husband Tom, being an engineer who used high-tech solutions for most of his career, is really enjoying finding low-tech solutions to comman problems! Wait until you see how he makes us a high-speed internet center using solar energy, a couple of sticks.......and maybe a little duct tape too!! (move over, McGyver!)

Solar cooking success!

Yesterday was our first experiment with solar cooking. We made our cooker out of cardboard and tinfoil. Then set it out in the sun around 3pm. We decided to keep it simple for our first try and made macaroni and veggies. We actually didn't have much faith that this would work, but shazamm!!!! It worked!! Actually, it was overcooked and the noodles were mush, but the veggies were good.
It only took an hour to cook everything-and done without any fuel source, only by the heat of the sun! We were amazed!
Even though we had researched this whole solar cooking idea on the web and YouTube, we didn't really know if it would work.
But now we are excited about it and are going to try cooking some MEAT-argh-argh!!
This has so much potential for the people of Ethiopia! Women and children spend a large part of their day gathering up wood for their cooking fires. Not only does it prevent them from doing other important things (like going to school or a job) but it depletes an already scarce resource-wood. And in some parts of Africa, it has become dangerous for the women-because they are having to range farther and deeper out into the bush, and many of them are being raped and murdered.
We hope to make many solar cookers and bring them to Ethiopia and show the women how they could use these at least some of the time for their daily cooking. If you would like more info about these Cookit solar cookers go to You Tube and type in "solar cooking' We will post exciting video of Teresa cooking MEAT next week, but until then...bon apetit!!

Tom and I just got back from a two day Health and Hygiene seminar at Living Waters International headquarters in Houston. What a great organization they are-they really know their stuff.
We learned all about hand washing, diaherea, flies, and how to design and build latrines!
(lovely topics, aren't they?)
with the training we received, we should be able to approach village leaders and suggest some basic sanitation techniques they can easily adapt to their village. Did you know that worldwide over 5,000 children DIE EACH DAY from diseases caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water?!!!We've got to do something about that!
In august we will take the pump repair class
that LWI offers.
Another project we are working on is a solar cooker.
In Africa, women labor to gather heavy firewood for cooking
purposes. With a solar cooker, no wood is neccesary!
No fuel is needed. A safe, clean, 'green' solution that costs pennies to make! ( cardboard, foil and an old cooking pot)
I'll keep you posted on my attempts to cook Tom's dinner
by good 'ol hot Texas sunshine!!!! ha ha

Welcome to our new blogsite!

This blog was set up in order to help keep family, friends and supporters up-to-date on whats going on with Project Ethiopia.

Our departure is drawing near-we have committed to a 2 year stay in southern Ethiopia beginning next Jan 2011.

There is much to be done before we leave: learning the language (Amharic) learning how to drill water wells, raising money to pay for a drilling rig, pipe, welding supplies, etc...and learning how to raise chickens!! I'm a city girl who always just went to Col. Sanders when I wanted fried chicken-but there aren't any KFC in the African bush! So I guess I need to go to chicken-raising and vegetable gardening school! What have I gotten myself into??? I also will have to wear long skirts in order not to offend our Ethiopian friends, who dress much more modestly than we do here in the US. I am a bit of a tomboy, so this long skirt thing is going to be a challenge too!

For those of you who don't know what Project Ethiopia is all about, here is a short description of what our purpose is:

Project Ethiopia: An East Texas Christian mission dedicated to drilling water wells in the southern Omo region of Ethiopia. We want to help provide safe, clean drinking water for the people who live there.

Water is scarce in the dry, dusty Omo region. Women and children spend 5-6 hrs. per day in fetching water-often from contaminated surface water sources. Worldwide, 5,000 children under the age of 5 die from water related diseases Every DAY.
We are closely affiliated with Living Water International (LWI) and the following facts are taken from their brochure:

Women often walk up to 7 miles per day in the dry season in search of water for their families. This is time that could be better spent working a job earning money to support their families. Children often are needed to fetch water and take care of cattle in the fields. Instead, they could be in schools-gaining an education that will help raise them out of the cycle of poverty.

So, my husband Tom and I are headed over there next January. I will explain how we got into all this in my next blog. By the way, I have never blogged before, so please be patient with me as I learn how to navigate through 'blogdom'

In His joyful service,

Teresa and Tom Rieder
Tyler, TX