We have turned Kivumu into a big construction site! Aside from the school that is being built at full speed, these days we’ve also begun digging reservoirs next to the future school which will serve as huge water containers.

Well, yes. That’s how things work here. We don’t have a water-supply pipeline, so we have to take care of everything ourselves. And that’s why we look forward to rainy seasons, because during those periods we use the rainwater to fill our tanks and then use the water in all areas of our life.

So next to our new school we are going to have two huge reservoirs. One cistern will be above ground and will have a capacity of 100 cubic metres, and the underground reservoir will be able to hold as much as 500 cubic metres of water.

The students of the building section of our Padri Vjeko School are helping to dig the hole for the underground tank. There are no construction machines. Everything is done by hand. Our hands serve as everything – both bulldozers and excavators.

The new school will have one big roof, so when it rains, enough water will come down into our reservoirs. That’s the only way we can prepare for the dry season, which lasts for three months, twice a year. This is life in Africa...

Translated by: Branimir Mlakić
Edited by: Valerie Kae Ken

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