Words of wisdom - by John

I've been enjoying some proverbs again recently and so here are a few that have made me stop and think about how we do things here. Hopefully they will make you pause and ponder a bit too.

This is an interesting one. It's obviously not good to help people in need so that you get a reward, but the idea that we are 'lending' to God when we help people is quite an eye-opener.

This one challenges my perceptions of development. We assume that it's all about having clean water, making money and improving conditions. Well, it is those things, but if there is no love in the heart or the household then aren't we missing the point?

Ok, seems obvious really. But this scary one reminds me that there are probably ways in which we all oppress the poor without realising it. Although it's not intentional that we buy products and services that oppress the poor through poor wages and conditions, we are still active in the system that exploits people. And I'm not sure if those who are oppressed really care whether we meant it or not, they just want it to stop.

Another development related one. How? Well it seems that many NGOs have the 'answer' to issues, problems and a communities' concerns well before they listen to the people they aim to help. It's so easy to do and, of course, you can only help in ways that you are skilled in. But I'm really keen to listen as much as possible before coming up with a list of answers to everyone's problems.

Hope there was a good slice of food for thought for you there too!

Keeping clean - by John

Just a quick update here. It's been really busy with lots of visitors to the team on a 'Missions School'. I say visitors, but some are actually from the slum communities so we are their visitors really.

One of the things that we tried out with the team was making 'Tip-Tap' handwashers. These are made out of sticks, string and a bottle and so barely cost a thing but keep hands clean. The cleaner the hands, the less likely disease is to spread.

Here's one that our friend Charles helped to make in one of the slums. Part of the test is to see how long it lasts. It may be that the wood finds a new home in a fire and the bottle makes someone a nice water carrier - we'll wait and see!

You may notice that we have two posters on this toilet too. And if your eyesight is commando-like you'll see that one is in English and one Luganda. Part of the plan is to popularise techniques like this through posters etc. Maybe soon I'll be blogging about a giant Tip-Tap mural on this wall, that's if the tap itself stands up to pilfering hands.

Half full or empty? - by John

As you may have picked up from previous blog posts, I am a big fan of seeing waste as a resource and focusing on opportunities rather than problems. With that approach I thought we should try out an idea in K1 in lieu of the bad floods which enter some of the houses at least once a year.

There is a lot on the internet about an interesting technology for building houses and water tanks through using plastic bottles as bricks. To make them strong like bricks, sand and soil are rammed into the bottles, which are stacked to make walls. Simple eh?

I thought we could try something out on a different scale by making use of the large bottles that are used by hotels and Muzungus (white folk) over here. They also find their way into the slums, but by that time you have to pay for them, although they are only about 12p a pop.

So, a few of us got together and set to work outside one mama's house, who gets filthy water flowing into it, to try this idea out. We also had help from the self-appointed 'Chairman', Obama, a fun chap who was trying to convince us that he fought in the First World War. He is old, but surely not? Mind you, he is also a witch doctor so you never know.

Here's how we got on.

We placed the bottles facing into the ground to hopefully prevent them from getting washed away (they are also very heavy!). Other, smaller bottles and stones were placed below and in the gaps between the large bottles.

A soil bank was piled up behind the bottles to help hold them in place as people walk across, compacting them over time. Obama is having a break here.. well, he is apparently over 100 years old ;)

Ta dah! The finished job looked good, but we will see how it fairs in the floods. We will be going into the community each week to see how it's doing. And to check if Obama has his letter from the Queen yet too.