Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Second trip to the tent city

After lunch we went back to the tent city. The water truck was actually there already when we arrived. Nonetheless, the kids were happy to see us.

Turns out that the storage facility at the tent city hold two entire truckloads, so we had a second water truck brought in. It arrived and started offloading the water by the time we were leaving.

There was a bit of contention when it came time to distribute the water. Apparently the city 'mayor' decided to charge a small amout for each pail of water. The idea was apparently to make it a substainable source of water, the money collected for the pails of water would in turn be used to purchase the next truckload. From what I've heard, the idea of charging a small amount also helps prevent a poverty mindset and ensures that the people recieving the material value it. There was a 'town hall meeting' at the tent city where a number of the people got quite upset at being told there was a slight charge for the water.

Then back to the compound for dinner: rice and beans, potatoes and carrots.

No comments: