Would You Rather?

The missionary house that I’m staying in was built by locals, with no supervision from skilled American builders. As a result 90% of the building (Missionary kitchen, bedroom & bath; child’s dorm; and garage) was done fine, but unfortunately the 10% that has issues is the Missionary bathroom.

I don’t even know the extent of the problems… as I remember a few issues the last time I was here and they could be the same ones I’m experiencing. When I arrived I flushed the toilet fine the first time but the second time it didn’t flush. I asked Nigel if he know what the deal was and he told me that you have to shut the water off after each use, or else the water will run 24-7. Not a big deal, the water valve is conveniently located up next to the toilet.

On my second or third morning, I notice a foul stench. It’s slight and I’m to tired to care, so I pull out scented baby wipes and sleep with one on my face. I mention it to Nigel and he says, “Well you shouldn’t smell it unless it’s raining.” Septic… again, really!?

During my last visit we were attempting to put in a new area for the septic to drain. When I got home someone asked me where the drainage field was or how the cement box would drain out into a field. It was like someone smacked me upside the head… what a great question!

My 3^rd year at Judson in Design/Build (I studied Architecture) we had to design and build a functioning outhouse. When I was asked that question… my mind instantly went to the pictures I had of my groups drainage field and I remembered digging the trenches. I just hoped that since I didn’t see the project through to completion it would be installed.

One of the first thing Nigel mentions is that the septic here doesn’t have a drainage field, at the time we put in the last septic, we didn’t have room on our land for a drainage field. Anyways, so since the system is full the septic smell comes up through the pipes in the missionary bathroom. Lovely.

Nigel and I talk about it a little more. From what he can gather it’s one of 2 problems… or I guess it could be 2 of 2 problems. The vent might not be located correctly in the septic tank, which makes the plumbing to the missionary bathroom the vent. Or there is no trap on the bathtub/ a broken trap in the bathroom. Traps hold water in them creating a barrier so that the smell can’t go up pipes into your bathroom or kitchen.

Nigel said that that smell should only be bad when it rains but I think when all the boys shower in the morning I smell a little something… I think I have a sensitive nose.

A few days later I go into the bathroom to find a puddle of water on the floor, but I’m not sure at all where it came from. Did I track it out of the shower, did I leave the toilet running… no, there is just a random puddle of water right in front of the door. I notice it again later and finally realize that the sink has a really slow leak. I show Nigel and he says that any fix he can do would make the water drain into the wall. He doubts that anything was used at the connections of the pipes when they were installed. Meaning where 2 pipes join, they are just sitting one inside of the other… allowing for gaps and leaks. I stick my hand sanitizer in the sink and figure I will just brush my teeth in the Kitchen… no biggie.

Saturday after we eat it starts raining. I’m expecting it to smell bad it my room, but it really doesn’t. However, it does smell a little like it does when all the kids are showering in the morning.

That night I use at least 6 scented baby wipes. I wake up at 7:00 no longer able to handle the smell. For half an hour, I sit in the Kitchen in a chair… dazed because I am so tired after a long Christmas day. About 30 minutes later, I decide I should probably get dressed and brush my teeth. Since there is no water in the well and I don’t have any in my bucket, I’m not planning to shower… just a quick in and out to grab what I need. I open the door and before I can take my 5^th step, I’m gagging! The smell has gotten so far beyond worse, I go running out, thankful for the fresh air in the kitchen. I find some baby wipes and try again, but the smell is so strong the wipes do nothing and I turn around and run out.

It’s almost shocking how bad it smells. I sit in my chair thinking how I will attempt to explain this… are there even words. At 9:30, I have Pedro go get Nunu. I’m not even sure what it is I’m getting him for, but you know when you have a problem you just want to tell someone. Or you want someone to confirm that you aren’t imagining just how bad something is.

Pedro brings Nunu and I tell them both the problem. I ask Nunu if he would go get my toothbrush and grab me some clothes (I’m dressed I just don’t have enough on to go out of the house or to go to church). While he goes in I have Pedro stick his head in the door and Pedro makes a crazy face… so it’s not just me. But I think the smell is getting better. I tell Nunu I think I can handle going in but he brings my tooth brush and closes the bathroom door behind him.

We open the windows and hope for the best. I find myself though out the day having an internal debate. Which room is better? Nigel is moving and so the room I was in last time will be open again. It’s the most realistic “Would you rather” (a game my Campus Life High Schoolers used to play) ever. Would you rather deal with sleepless nights because of the mice or deal with the smell of a septic system on rainy days? I kinda wish the debate was longer in my head, but the mice last year were WAY worse than this… For 2 nights last year, I slept in a chair in the middle of my room with the lights on. I shouldn’t even say slept… I think I got an hour or 2 of sleep. It was way worse than being woken by the septic smell after a rainy day... maybe I would feel different if it were rainy season. I feel like I'm making things sound horrible, but they aren't. Things here aren't always as comfortable as home... but what do I expect, I'm in a 3rd world country!

I had all these plans of moving all my clothes to the kitchen and buying a mattress that I could easily move into the Kitchen should it rain again, but I’m happy to say that I since that Sunday morning I have gotten the slightest hint of septic smell in my room.

I’m not trying to complain about my living situation. The rooms and amenities here have far surpassed my expectations, I guess I share about all the plumbing issues more to show just how important it is that we have volunteers from the states who know how to properly plumb a house. And know how important everything is from the tap the water runs out of to the way we dispose of what goes down teh drain. The new building we are working on already has the plumbing done but what a HUGE blessing it was that we had a professional builder come oversee the first phase of our new building.

If you have any interest in coming over to help us continue building our missionary housing or helping fix some of our existing plumbing issues, please send me an email. Or if you have any ideas or suggestions about building here… I’d love to hear or chat with you about it. amanda@thedream-project.org

Prayer Request:

- That the bathroom issues are fixable and that the finances would come in to cover the cost.

- That I don’t smell the septic system.

- That the funds would come in to finish the new building.