So far today on Garbagal I have seen:

A herd of over three hundred camels crossing the road before us,
Boys splashing joyfully in a river swollen by a dam opened upstream,
Women carrying two to three bowls on their heads, one on top of the other, balanced on narrow, tin cans,
Four tiny little boys, arms entwined tightly, walking across a vast expanse of desert alone,
Nomads from Niger Republic traveling south, riding on donkeys,
Dust storms blowing through the work site and fires on the horizon.
And heat waves.
Terrible heat.

Still no rain. We've not yet seen rain.

So far in Garbagal, drilling has been a disaster. Much to my disappointment, Aliyu released the former drilling rig and team and hired on a new one from Kano. The rig is a pile of junk, works with water, not air, and broke down not five minutes after the drilling began. The water barrel they'd brought had a big split in it, so the were bringing water from the windmill borehole in jerry cans, by motorbike. Of course, the water didn't come fast enough, so the borehole walls collapsed, burying the drill bit. The couldn't get it out so had to abandon the pipe and borehole. That was yesterday.

Now, today, the same thing is happening. They've gone down thirty-one feet and have run out of water.

It took all this blessed day to drill one borehole. But finally, the men did finish it at around six this evening.

I hope tomorrow will be better.

Phyllis Sortor