Day 1 - The Village Water Trek

We woke up early to visit the village of Mtango. To our surprise we were greeted by the whole village waiting to greet us. The village elders introduced themselves to us and made a prayer for us; we also introduced ourselves one by one. We then set off with some villagers to their water source. It was a long 1hr walk in the scorching African sun. They make this long journey twice a day (4hrs in total), carrying two 25ltr canisters on either side of a bicycle. These canisters didn't look clean! I was in shock as we approached the water source. It was literally a pond, infested with insects and creatures, feeding the whole village! Pulling along the bike with the 50ltr of water was incredibly tough and I have no idea how the women of the village manage it twice a day.

When we get back to the village we hand over the bicycles and canisters. We are seated down and handed fresh coconuts and oranges. The local school children make a performance for us which was really nice and we get involved too.

We then carry out the CPA which involves 3 tasks carried out with the villagers. The first is to draw a map of the village; the second is to write out a daily timetable for males and females and the third is to write up the four seasons and what the main advantages and disadvantages are of each. This all gives us an informative picture of the village and it's inhabitants in order to better understand their needs.