We're Getting "Closer"!

This week has gone by super fast and we can’t believe it’s already over. On Tuesday, Dan, Tristen, and I made a materials/Levison run while Brian, David, and Torrey got to experience a day in Harriet’s life. They all took turns carrying a 20 liter bucket from the borehole back to Harriet’s house, something that almost all of the community members must do several times a day. They all said it was hard and the bucket wasn’t even completely full.

The rest of the week was spent testing the rollers for proper functionality and capacity. We started with one cup, half a kilogram, and watched the efficiency of the rollers, then moved to three cups, and finally up to an entire full hopper.

We are really excited because we are able to get through the entire hopper in a reasonable amount of time. We are also able to make finer flour than the past trip, which made the community members very excited. Right now we are struggling to turn all of the maize into flour but are still working to try to get a higher percentage into flour that is good for nsima.

Corn after passing through the nurled and shallow rollers (left) and the sample maize right before the last pass (right)

Not only are we getting closer with the progress on the mill but also with each other. There has been lots of cuddling and sharing of embarrassing stories this past week.

                             

                                         

                             

David, Torrey, and Tristen all have camelbacks that can all clip together so they can be connected!

                              

                             

When you get up for 10 minutes to take a shower and return to find everyone passed out and your spot taken.

Also, I am ashamed to say we only made it three hours and sixteen minutes into the new year without having the hear “Closer” by the Chainsmokers which David and Tristen have been torturing us with several times a day since we’ve been here. (I was hoping I would be able to post this before someone played it.)

We have been having a great time in the community and love getting to know them better. This past week the committee members sang for us and we spent time dancing with the kids. We're bummed that we only have one more week to spend with them. I made the mistake of taking out the good camera and was then bombarded for like 5 minutes by everyone asking me to take their pictures. Here are some of the good ones!

Just some other side notes: Dan tried Nutella for the first time and loved it! (We were all completely shocked he had never had it before.) We also got Brian to sit through just about half of Frozen before he left and missed all of the good plot plans. This is also my growing collection of David and Torrey sleeping in the back of the mini bus. Also some random other pictures from this week.

We somehow managed to get fifteen people in our twelve person mini bus while it was pouring

Ruth babying David

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and their break!

Love,

Sydney