Today was a good day for making progress. The streets were open and traffic was normal today. On our way out to the Water for Good office we stopped to check out a job an NGO wants Water for Good to do at a military base. The reason they called Jim is that Water for Good has one of the only working backhoes in Bangui and they have a special digging job. They wanted us to see if we could do it and how much it will cost. So it was a little intimidating walking onto the military base with lots going on but we met our contact at the gate and he led us to where we could talk to one of the commanders to let him know what we were doing. We looked over the sight they wanted excavated and it looks like we might do this project before we leave.
After our stop at the military base, we proceeded out to the office to prepare the backhoe and tractor for the drive out to PK 22. Finally, we headed out to the street. As you can imagine, it is not every day that a tractor and backhoe drive down the street so we provided a small parade for everyone with a Water for Good truck if front and one behind the tractor and backhoe. The market was very busy today so we had to drive slowly to get through. Then we drove the 10 kilometers out to the farm. Finally, we were able to start on our list of projects out here. So the rest of the day was spend working on the farming equipment getting it ready so we can start using it in the field.
Each day we learn a little about the conflict here in Bangui. Some of the tension and confusion for the people in town is they don't always know who is shooting at them or who will protect them. There is the Seleka, the Anti Balaka, the French, and then there is the MISCA forces, which are a collection of African nations. What they are finding is some of the MISCA forces are sympathetic to the Seleka and so they are giving some of the Seleka forces their MISCA uniforms and then they carry out attacks on the people or the Anti Balaka forces which is happened over the weekend. During the battle some of the MISCA soldiers were killed but when they took their uniforms off they discovered that they were actually Seleka.
Please keep praying for this country, the problems are huge and the road ahead is very unclear.
Please keep praying for the staff of Water for Good as they seek to get back to their work which means traveling the roads.
Thanks for your prayers for Jim and me!
Tim
After our stop at the military base, we proceeded out to the office to prepare the backhoe and tractor for the drive out to PK 22. Finally, we headed out to the street. As you can imagine, it is not every day that a tractor and backhoe drive down the street so we provided a small parade for everyone with a Water for Good truck if front and one behind the tractor and backhoe. The market was very busy today so we had to drive slowly to get through. Then we drove the 10 kilometers out to the farm. Finally, we were able to start on our list of projects out here. So the rest of the day was spend working on the farming equipment getting it ready so we can start using it in the field.
Each day we learn a little about the conflict here in Bangui. Some of the tension and confusion for the people in town is they don't always know who is shooting at them or who will protect them. There is the Seleka, the Anti Balaka, the French, and then there is the MISCA forces, which are a collection of African nations. What they are finding is some of the MISCA forces are sympathetic to the Seleka and so they are giving some of the Seleka forces their MISCA uniforms and then they carry out attacks on the people or the Anti Balaka forces which is happened over the weekend. During the battle some of the MISCA soldiers were killed but when they took their uniforms off they discovered that they were actually Seleka.
Please keep praying for this country, the problems are huge and the road ahead is very unclear.
Please keep praying for the staff of Water for Good as they seek to get back to their work which means traveling the roads.
Thanks for your prayers for Jim and me!
Tim
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