Today, the team began work on the civil works in Liti, a process that started with leveling the ground around the well. Next, bricks are used to form the outline of the civil works and large areas, like the well pad, are filled with gravel. Since cement is more expensive than bricks, as little as possible is used. Cement is brought in 50kg bags, so students and community members worked together to carry them!

Since we were in Malawi during a school break, kids were around all the time and they were super interested in everything we were doing. We watched them play a clapping game for a while and tried to figure out the rules before joining in–we never completely figured out how to play, but it was a great chance to interact with the kids!

For lunch, we bought rolls and snacks at a supermarket in the morning and ate outside in a town center. We all really enjoyed exploring the different foods and drinks available at the supermarket, along with the chance to buy Redbulls–the best source of caffeine available during our long days!

After lunch, we stopped by the maintenance training that VIP was running to educate committee members for the new boreholes. While we were there, the attendees were split into groups and each group was assigned one topic related to well maintenance (like part replacement, removing the casing, etc.). They wrote down what they knew about the topic, then each group presented their topic to the whole class and the instructor would correct or add to what the group was saying.