Trip to the bush

On Monday we went to Bagarmi and Tsentsee. Both these villages have bore hole wells with a hand pump. They are the only source of water during the dry season and serve at least a thousand people each. The wells were drilled through a program started by Ron Wilmot from Akron, Iowa and continues through a fund in his memory. The church in Bagarmi has a relationship with the Nebraska church at Callaway. The area has very little as far as material goods but the people are friendly and happy. Farming is the major occupation with harvest of the cassava root in progress right now. I was really surprised to see the school. There are four classrooms constructed of cornstalks. There are five teachers but one is ill right now so four are doing the job. One hundred eighty one children attend the school with a possibility of two hundred more. Families pay a fee for their child to attend school and they wear uniforms. Fees for one term are 500 N an equivalent of about $3.50. That’s a lot of money in this part of the world. Uniforms are an extra fee, but not all students have a uniform. There is no school in Tsentsee and the children would have to walk several hours to and from school if they were to attend the nearest government school. Again, agriculture is the major occupation. Ground nuts and corn are two of the commodities that can be stored for the dry season although most of the produce is either sold or consumed. Sheep are raised to sell and buy food when they are running out of their own produce.