Commercial Wells and New Land

One of the first things we do is dig the mud pit. Here is the young man who accepted Christ helping dig the pit.

We use the pit to mix the bentonite and water. This mixture than circulates through the borehole and makes the rock and debris float to the surface. This young man has the strength of an ox!

Louis Pierre and Jonathan, just drillin' away.

 Oakley agrees, drilling is exhausting. He doesn't normally go out to the drill sites, he is more of a homebody. 

The camp site. This is what happens to your tent when a dessert wind comes up.

It was slow going through the clay, lots of standing and watching.

Until your drill bit gets clogged and stops the circulation. Then you have to stop, pull all the bars out and clean the bit. If only I had taken a pottery lesson or two, I could have made myself a new set of dishes with this clay. 

Jonathan welding the new fitting. 

He truly amazes me with his many talents, strength and perseverance. He just keeps giving it his all in spite of everything that goes wrong.   

Something we see a lot of out in the villages, horse carts. Besides being used for hauling brush, they are also a taxi service. Here in Mbour for .08 cents you can take a horse cart to the market.

The desert sunsets are beautiful, this picture really does it no justice.

Not just a man's job, I enjoy helping out when I can.

Unfortunately we are not putting this PVC in, but taking it out. This is the first casing that collapsed. 

This young man is very eager to learn and has even expressed an interest in well drilling. (He is the same one that helped dig the pit). Jonathan did a great job this day teaching him how to put in and take out the bars. You never know when you might just meet your next well driller. 

Uncle Tim on the new Joseph Project land.

 Happy Birthday Louis Pierre! It was so much fun getting to surprise him with a birthday cake.

Louis Pierre enjoying the shade and running the machine. I wasn't able to go out on this well project so there aren't as many pictures. This is the commercial well they did on the citrus orchard. 

Here is what a final electric pump installation looks like. The generator in the back powers the pump which fills the tank on top of the water tower that they then empty onto the trees.  Great work guys!

I hope that through all these pictures you now have a better understanding of well drilling and a glimpse into our lives......The Life of the Kroezes.