Tuesday, April 26, 1977, 6:00 pm, Day 455

The first day we surveyed along a road so that the side shots were all that had to be cleared. We went 3100 ft that day, putting in 15 survey points. the second day we left the roadbehind, and started heading into the bush. We covered 1700 ft that day in 11 points. Today was a very bad day as far as progress is concerned. In 4 points, we were only able to cover 245 ft, because the terrain was so hilly and the bush was so thick. Because we were so short of communal labor today, I ended up bush clearing, even though I told myself I wouldn't because I really got scratched and cut up by it yesterday. In the hot sun, trying to go up and down those hills through the bush, I quickly exhausted myself completely. The few communal laborers that we had were also very tired. I didn't feel like trying to push on, so I readily agreed to call it a day.

I don't think that I am mad at the situation, but I am fed up with it and frustrated by it. I told the chief this afternoon that tomorrow morning I wanted to see 20 communal laborers ready to go to work and that I would pick 10 from those. I don't expect to see 20, I just tried to make it known to the chief very, very clearly that I wanted at least the 10 people that I was asking for. 9 people will just not do. If the chief cannot come up with the 10 men, then I will just not survey tomorrow, even though it might be possible to get by with less. I am not willing to just "get by" any more. It is hard work that we are doing and it is not right to ask 7 or so men to do the work of 10. I will just consider myself on holiday if the chief cannot meet my requirement. I refuse to work when they are not willing to work, because this water project is for them, not me. We often lose sight of that fact.

Monday, May 2, 1977, 1:00 pm, Day 461

On Wednesday morning I went to see the chief again and threatened to pull out if he didn't supply the men. That got him worried, and so it got him up and going around the town, trying to round up people for us. By 9:30 AM we were finally heading out to survey because we had got our 10 men. In fact, by the time we were out there awhile, we had about 15 to 20 people working with us. We got in a decent day of surveying. The bush clearing was even going faster than the surveying, so we let them go early at the end of the day because they were about 3 points ahead of the transit.

The next day, Thursday, I was ready to go out again if they supplied the men, but I didn't mind too much when they didn't because I was a bit tired and I had alot of calculations left to do from the day before. Three men showed up but we sent them away because it wasn't the required ten. On Friday, only 3 men showed up again. I was really tired of the situation by now, and was ready for any excuse to get out of there for awhile.

Moiba and I decided to call it quits in Jagbwema, at least for awhile. We started packing up right away. The chief wasn't around, but alot of the town elders were, and they were over, begging us to reconsider. They were assuring us that they could supply 100 men if we wanted, and for sure we would be getting the required 10 per day that we wanted. I listened to all of this, but it sure wasn't going to change my mind. I found that a person's word in this country is not always good. They promise you things that you know that no way are they going to be able to fulfill. I don't like it but that is the way that they are. Actions speak louder than words to me, so it is the action taht I want to see. If I don't see any of the promised action, then I quickly lose respect for what they say.

We pulled out. I went to Koidu for petrol and mail and then headed up here. I was amazed at the amount of mail that was waiting for me. There were five (5) letters from home. they took anywhere from 1 month to 9 days to reach me. I also got 2 notes from Fred Hoyt, my volunteer leader, which were written a few weeks before. To top it all off, I even got a big envelope from the Peace Corps office, with Time magazines and stuff inside. This last signifies that they have finally gotten my address straightened out for awhile.

Wednesday, May 4, 1977, 9:00 pm, Day 463

It seems that I was hung up on one part of the design. That part was trying to design the wall of the well. I had all of the forces acting on the wall but I couldn't figure out how I could get from those forces to how thick and how strong the wall needed to be. I was going around and around with this one. I thumbed through all of the engineering books that I had, but nothing really covered what I wanted to know. Finally, yesterday afternoon, I came up with one solution which seems to be logically okay, and the results that I have gotten from it look to be about where I guess they should be. Working on the design, or at least working at working on the design, has been tough work for me mentally. It is not really too hard, once I have it figured out. It is hard for me because I am not sure what I have to do and so have to try and figure out first what needed to be done, second how to do it, and third actually do it. The third one is easy once you have the other two. It's those first two that seem sometimes overwhelming. I've only been able to keep working on the design for only an hour or two at a time so far.

After awhile I just have to get up and do something else. I've done alot of something-elses these past few days. Today, I repaired my hammock and patched up the holes in a few pairs of jeans. Yesterday, I cleaned and repaired my backpack and repaired all of the seams in the animal-skin rug that I have. I've also done quite a bit of reading.

Usually in the afternoon, I finally get tired of hanging around my room and so go out and see about visiting some of the neighborhood people. This has a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is just to keep me from becoming a hermit, shut up in my room all day. Getting out into the people, if it is the right people, can really refresh my spirits. The second purpose I'm not really proud of and I've got to fix up the situation sometime so as to releave me of that second purpose. The second purpose of why I get out and wander around the neighborhood is so that I might possibly be in the right place at the right time to be offered some rice chop.

The person that is supposed to fix my rice now is a bit unpredictable about it. Two days this past week, she was out at the farm and so wasn't around to cook for me. A few times she has been in town, but then for some reason she wouldn't cook for that day. This has left me always wondering if, when, and where I will get my next food. This gets me out of the house each day to see if she is around and if she is cooking. If she isn't around and it doesn't look like she will be, then I find myself a little bit worried and anxious about if I will get to eat that day. I've lucked out so far, but only because I have managed to be at the right place at the right time, and because the other ladies are all willing to feed me. I did real well today. I had rice four different times today. That was good.

The way my health is now, I feel good and my appetite is there. Having a big appetite can be a problem if you are unable to fill it. Today was good because the rice was spread out throughout the day so that I always had enough inside me to keep from feeling hungry. I feel like a bottomless pit, though, because I haven't really been full lately, even though I have sometimes eatten alot.

I will have to start looking into someone who knows how to cook, who is willing to cook for me, and who is always in the village. I will have to make everything very clear about what I want. I think that what I want is enough rice each afternoon so that I can eat my fill then, and then still have enough left over to heat up the next morning to eat then also. I will have to clear up the details on who buys the chop, who pays for it, who supplies the cooking pots, etc, etc.