Currently I'm on my 4th well. The 3 previous wells have been finished off at 350ft. There are pumps in two of them. In my 5 weeks here I've experienced some interesting things.

On my first well I was dealing with approx 25-30 onlookers at a time. They would help in an instant. When I finished that well, we installed a pump and the village folk drank happily from the hose.

The villagers at my second well were kind of comical. The crowd was not as big, but every lunch hour I was requested to sit down and eat. They always provided me with soup, tortillas, salad, chicken and a Pepsi. This carried on for just over a week. It took longer than expected to move to the next job because I broke 2 different cables just as I was finished. Drilling takes its toll on the equipment. We sent Peter and Gunnar to town to find oxygen and acetylene, which I needed to change my cables. You wouldn't believe the running around those two do for us. Running here and there just like a wild goose chase. Once they got the torches, Bob and I were able to change the cable.

Getting to the third wellsite was an interesting experiece. You may not believe me when I say it's 5-km as the crow flies, 13km as the road travels, but it took 1.5 hr to drive the rig there. The tiny one lane road goes up and down like a roller coaster. Once on site, it was not a real easy set-up. It was solid rock and not real level. The locals did level a pad, to the best of their ability. (Remember they have no machines… just brute strentgh)

Once I was set up, I was running my average of 80 - 100 ft a day. It kept crossing my mind that I was drilling too fast, but when I reached 246ft, things slowed down to approx. 20 - 30ft a day. The village where my third well is located is fairly prosperous in tomatoes but still very poor. The crowds around my rig have gone down, and so has the food consumption, as they did not feed me here. (You know, I'm so hard done by)

I'm currently on my 4th well. Still thumping away nice and steady, down 400ft with no signs of water.

As some may already know, the other drill rig ran into some difficulties. Last Friday, the cable broke just inside the drill bar, which meant that the drill bar was 150ft down the hole. Saturday Ted and I tried to retrieve it, without any success. Through talks with George Hodgkinson and a driller here in Guatemala City, we were able to locate a spare drill stem while a second one is being shipped from Ontario.
The rock formation change from one site to the next is unbelievable. I know that I have been fortunate to have ideal locations. Ted on the other hand has had two really tough holes, with hard volcanic rock and heaving sand, which presents numerous hazards for the driller. Drilling is an art, and every well is different. When you have equipment 200-300 feet down there are a numerous things that can go wrong. Our success has been incredible when you think of the hundred's of thousands of dollars that energy companies spend on unsuccessful drilling. With patience and God's will, everything will turn out for the best.

I joined this mission for the experience that it would provide. Everyone here is great to work with and we have become a family- like group. I will be honest, the distance away from home is hard, and I have to give Ted and Miriam credit for bringing their 5 children along to experience this.

Two things that I find difficult to deal with are homesickness and the language barrier. Knowing all the support that there is at home, from friends and family, helps me deal with homesickness. But I would not have believed the language barrier to be such a big issue until dealing with it first hand.

All in all, this trip is going to leave a lasting impression in my life, I feel privileged to be able to help several villages gain one of life's necessities - clean water. I'm going to be leaving here in about 2 weeks. But remember the project still goes on and the donations are greatly appreciated and needed. Thanks for the opportunity, best of luck and God Bless.

James Squire
Water Well Technician

Peter's weekly update.

On Sunday November 21st about 60 people from surrounding villages visited our camp. The presidents of each of the village committees gave a speech thanking Wells of Hope for the work that has been done. The speeches went on for about 2 hours but I will provide you with a few quotes: " we are pleased that you are here doing what you said you would do", " you are here living with us sharing our way of life" " the people in Canada are generous to supply the funds to help us" "we thank our brothers and sisters in Canada who make the Wells of Hope possible"

Miriam continues to teach sewing to about 35 women. We still are in need of sewing machines (you can send them to the Warehouse of Hope). The walls of the school are now rising. We are teaching English to about 50 children who come for 2-hour lessons twice a week. Ted is back at La Paz and drilling again. James is drilling at the 400-foot level in Los Llanitos. The villagers of Palo Verde invited us to lunch on Sunday November 28th. They made many speeches thanking us for what we are doing. It was humbling when those with so little presented us with gifts of fruit and vegetables. We anxiously await our first student visitors who arrive December 12th.