It didn’t seem like much, the little insect bite on my left arm, nothing out of the ordinary for summertime in Limpopo province. I continued my project managing and marveled as the walls of the new studio rose higher, higher but, then, a fever hit, my arm swelled and before I knew it I was in the Tzaneen hospital on IV antibiotics.Two weeks later, I have completed my mega-antibiotics courses but i’m still wrapping my arm in cool cloths and typing clumsily. I was felled by that one little bite but the work in Roiboklaagte went forward: the weavers wove, the builders built and the borehole drill arrived on site.
Lizbeth is pictured here finishing a beautiful commissioned rug. She and Angy have woven it in the last three weeks and it will be ready on schedule.At the building site the walls are rising and the window frames are going in, thanks to Desmond, the foreman, and his super crew. I called in orders for cement and building sand, brick force and bricks.
And then thrill of thrills, gift of gifts - A Spring of Hope ( a USA non-profit dedicated to bringing wells and water to rural schools in South Africa) brought in the Van Eck drilling rig and parked it just by our tree.
Koibus explained each soil sample retrieved from the earth and there was great excitement as we hit water at 15m and then again at 70m and finally at 100m when we hit the mother lode. The final water pressure indicates 2000 liters an hour. Everyone - creche children, school kids, the builders, the weavers and me with my wrapped, still swollen arm - watched as the drill went down, down, down. The excitement was palpable and when the water spurted out there was a spontaneous cheer.
Regina and Gertrude’s eyes glow when we speak of the New Dawn borehole. It is truly abundance, abundance of a precious commodity in a world where abundance on any front is rare. We will create a community garden and a dye plants garden and a strictly beautiful garden at our New Dawn center.
The borehole digging happening helps me to envision the community that will grow at the center.Being disabled didn’t stop me from imagining what will be by the time I head homewards in early June - a new fence to define and protect the center, a bright play structure for the children of the creche, Mapusha moved into their shiny new studio, the central lapa covered and gardens, gardens, well watered gardens galore!
