I can see why people fall in love with Africa. Everyday I am greeted with welcoming smiles and some sort of intangible joy for everyday life that I rarely see in western societies as people go about their daily lives. Despite working 7:30am to 7pm everyday, I am as relaxed as I have ever been. Then again, I'm not in charge of the project! I am trying to collect good quality data though and it is more difficult than I expected.

So far our team has been traveling from Community to Community within the sector we are serving and local water coordinators and operators have been traveling with us to help identify sources that serve the community. Each community seems to have at least 2 sources. One may be as modern as a gravity fed system with secondary treatment that serves many other communities as well, while the other may be a spring source that dries up in the dry season and must be boiled for consumption. With each point of access for water being sometimes up to a kilometer and a half away and serving over 100 people, each place to obtain water is important.

I think the water system is representative of Rwanda in general, an interesting juxtaposition of old and new all wrapped up into one.