Water, water - but maybe not everywhere!

One of the accessories that we have considered purchasing for the caravan, is a direct water link.  This would be used in the increasing number of sites that are fully serviced with a stand-pipe at every pitch, and would save one of us having to fill the barrel, and bring it to the 'van - and the possibility of the supply running dry half-way through a shower!

Water!  An absolute necessity to life as we know it.  That's why there is such excitement when a probe to the moon, or to Mars, appears to have uncovered evidence that there either is, or has been, water on these two 'lumps of rock'.  Water could mean that there is (or was) life - that we are 'not alone'!

At home, of course, all that I have to do is to turn a tap to provide myself with a drink of water; to run a bath; to have a shower; to fill a kettle, or a saucepan in order to make a cup of tea, or cook some pasta.  The water has already been filtered and purified, and there is - at least in Scotland! - a seemingly unlimited supply.  Yet, to many, a regular, easily-obtained, supply of clean water is a luxury that can only be the stuff of dreams.

Just this week, we received the prayer/newsletter from friends who have spent many years ministering in Nepal.  Permit me to share just a little of it with you:

"We had a very poor water supply as the water pipes had been broken further up the hill. Water had to be carried and rationed. To wash clothes and ourselves a short (30 min) walk to a small local river supplied the water needed or if we were very fortunate a ten minute walk to a tank below our office.  The locals washed their clothes and dried them on the ground - we washed them then carried the wet
clothes to our living area and dried them on a line. I can see why they think we are a little crazy, wet clothes are quite heavy. In our defence, it seems odd to put clean clothes on the dirty ground!"

"... we have two projects planned, one for a women’s hostel at the airfield and the other, a water project in a village near Gamgadhi.

It was good news when we found a donor who loved both projects and agreed to fully fund both. We were elated as we travelled to Mugu to finalise plans to commence work on the projects.  However, about two weeks later, we received a 'phone call from the organisation saying they had changed their minds and now would not be funding either project. Needless to say we were very unhappy about their decision, and did our best to convince them to support the projects. They acknowledged the difficulty they had caused by backing out but were unrelenting.

We then had to explain to the villagers that full funding was not available. However, we did have a small amount of money and, with their full cooperation, we could start to dig the well. Unfortunately, the weather made the first method of digging unsafe, so we now plan to use a mould to make concrete rings which is better and means we can dig deeper at a later date if necessary - BUT YEP, IT IS THE MORE EXPENSIVE METHOD."

If anyone who reads this blog would be willing to help support this work in Nepal, then please leave an e-mail address as a comment (which will not be published) and I will pass it on to Cherie Tanner (and to no-one else!).

Cherie will be happy to forward the full newsletter to you, and to advise you as to how best to provide financial support for the water project.  She will also advise UK taxpayers as to how they may Gift Aid their support, and thus increase what goes to the project at no additional cost to themselves!

Please think about it - the next time you turn on that tap!