Let the Gospel Flow

I’m getting ready for my trip to Ivory Coast with Reach Beyond. 

To briefly summarise, my role is to be the ‘cameraman’. This will involve capturing images and videos documenting the different activities that will take place the next two weeks along with helping to put together some tutorial videos for different stages of water well installation and component assembly. 

The final few days of the trip will hopefully see the well-drilling apparatus in action. Using my camera drone I plan to record these scenes and capture the moment we hit water. 

I travel out on Friday 2nd May where I will first rendezvous in Paris with Wim from Reach Beyond. Together we will then fly in the evening to the capital of Ivory Coast, Abidjan.

Currently the plan is to stay there a couple nights whilst we meet up with the other members of the team who are travelling from other countries in Africa. Once assembled we travel north to a town near Yamoussoukro where the work will be taking place. 

I will be posting brief daily updates on the different activities that take place as well as things we would appreciate prayer for. One quick initial prayer request is that we will be able to get the drone into Ivory Coast to begin with. The published regulations on drone usage there are not very clear but for a smaller drone like mine it should be OK, but I would appreciate prayer.

Hello. We arrived safely in Abidjan last night and stayed in a guest house in the city. We have now joined with Mark (second on the left) who will be running the activities and training this week. We are also now with Samuel (third from the left) who will be participating this week and helping with set-up and logistics. Wim is far left in the photo.

Today will be spent in Abidjan shopping for tools and other supplies. Tomorrow we will set off for Golikro which is the village where training will be taking place.

Oh and the drone got through security fine as well 😊

Yesterday (Sunday) we travelled north to a little village called Golikro which is near to the town of Dimbokro. This is where Mark and his team have a compound made up of several buildings and is used as a training centre. People will travel here to learn about the installation of wells and get lots of hands-on experience with real wells. 

This morning there was an introductory session which outlined goals and looked into the geological and hydrological cycles as well as types of wells. The team that has assembled here is made up of various sub-Saharan African nationalities all with different jobs and skill sets. This training will provide them with a new skill that they can take with them back to the areas they normally work in. 

Everyone is so excited to be here and can’t wait to learn about wells, so this is something to be thankful for. Storms in the area mean the electricity supply is inconsistent but so far has not been much of a problem. Yet Wi-Fi is quite inconsistent so my messages may end up being sent at strange intervals so please bear with. 

Updates have become more infrequent unfortunately because the internet connection is now almost non-existent as a lightning bolt took out our nearest phone tower ha ha. I will try and provide updates as and when I am able. 

The last few days the team has been working on removing and installing India MK2 hand pumps as well as conducting pumping tests to assess quality of a drilled well and work out the flow rate. 

The days are long, hot and humid but the team are still in good spirits and are having fun with one another. 

Progress is not quite as quick as anticipated but as a team the guys agreed to do longer days to make sure they learn as much as possible. 

I have been able to get lots of images and videos of the sequence of events in the various processes and have captured some images of the site as a whole with my drone. 

Today the team has split up into smaller groups to go and practice their skills on real wells that are scattered around the nearby town. Me, Wim and Mark are hopping from group to group to check on them as well getting a few more shots and videos. 

I’ve been able to get lots of photos and videos whilst I’ve been here although progress has been slower the last couple days as I’ve been suffering with mild heatstroke or possibly heat exhaustion. I’m feeling a bit better today. 

Tomorrow the team will have practical exams that put everything they’ve learned into practice and get some constructive feedback on what level they are at. So far it looks very promising for all 12 of them so I’m confident they will all do very well. 

Next week on Monday and Tuesday we will observe some well drilling in action and the different steps involved in that. Mark has a big drilling rig on the back of a truck that we will be using and so that will be exciting. 

They guys are still very excited to be here and are still working well despite the hot temperatures and high humidity.

Everything has wrapped up now for the training program and today we’re heading back to Abidjan and will fly out around 9 pm tonight. 

The practical exams went very well and all the team did a great job. They are now equipped to return to the places they normally work with new skills and hopefully the ability to teach others what they have learned. 

On Monday and Tuesday a new well was drilled on site and all the team got to see in-depth the process involved and get hands on with some of steps. The idea wasn’t to train the team how to drill wells but rather know how it should be done and what to look out for when a contractor is working.