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At last, drilling underway

sandyelsworth



The national flower, the Flame Lily, in all its glory
The national flower, the Flame Lily, in all its glory

The rains in Zimbabwe might have arrived late, but they have been abundant in most regions. The grass is reaching for the sky and tendrils and and flowers cover the ground. This is the time for the Flame Lily to shine. It is notoriously difficult to train and propagate, having an unruly and rebellious approach to being tamed. Much like Africa. It doesn't fit neatly into a squared up tidy garden, but suddenly appears, profuse in it's colours, in unpredictable corners. And leaves one feeling privileged to see and enjoy them.


Two things have occurred over the past 3 days: One good, and one bad and sad. Firstly, the bad and sad: Ethiopian Airlines and Gatwick managed to lose one of my bags when checking in by failing to put a tag on it. I'm told it ended up traveling the conveyor system in the guts of Gatwick and ..well, they lost it. The sad news is that it contains mainly games and books for children of all ages which I was going to take to the Orphanage at Shearley Cripps in Goromonzi. So now I will go empty handed.


Drilling at Shearley Cripps
Drilling at Shearley Cripps

However, in contrast the Good News is that the Drilling Rig arrived at Shearley Cripps and immediately got drilling underway. When this event has been eagerly awaited for years, it is such a celebration to actually see and hear the monster machine beginning turning the rock and making progress.


Artwell and Darlington dropped everything and were present during the whole process, watching, counting, measuring, checking. The thrill was having the drillers report that they intercepted a water bearing fissure, and seems to auger a good borehole.


Drilling is a noisy and dangerous task, especially if it is in the rain! The Rig must be absolutely level to ensure verticality. Drill rates must not be too fast otherwise it can bend the drilling direction. Samples of the cuttings must be retrieved and logged. And all this done safely.


Then, finally, at full depth, which is 125m in this borehole, casing and screens must be installed and a gravel pack poured in.


The completed borehole, now awaiting testing.
The completed borehole, now awaiting testing.

The great news is that all this was completed within days at this site, and the borehole is now ready for testing.


So, although I might not have the games and books and toys for the Children, I hope that the provision of the borehole and the availability of clean water will be sufficient. And who knows, perhaps Ethiopian Airlines will come good and find the bag and ship it out before I go.


Because books and water are both, my view, to a thriving life. A different form of food and water that I'm sure all great sages would approve of.


Sandy Elsworth 18 January 2025



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