Buduk Bui Part 2

The purpose of going to Buduk Bui was to check on how the water project in that village and the two other villages had progressed.  There had been a closing ceremony on the project about 8 months ago but then it was learned that the project was not quite finished.  Some pipes still needed to be laid and some more connections made.  We went to check to make sure everything was finished as agreed.  It was.  So instead of holding another closing ceremony we had a "Turning-It-Over-To-You" ceremony.  Here are some pictures:

This is the big banner they had made up.  The ceremony was held inside their church building.

Some of the dancers in their native costumes.  Aren't they beautiful? And all handmade.  The dance told the story of planting and gathering the rice.

They gave us these hats they had also made.  They are really nice hats.  The man with us is Leo.  We stayed at his house.  Speaking of our accommodations, I thought you would like to see our bedroom:

They were very kind to us while we were there.  They had two mats sacked for us to sleep on instead of the usual only one.  It really wasn't bad at all.  And now for

THE BATHROOM. . .Yes that is the toilet on the left.  It is horrible and gross.  I tried to hold it for four days, but that wasn't working so then I just tried to hold it as long as I could.  When we got back, I quickly ran to our bathroom and hugged the toilet.  Everyone run now and hug your toilet. I was never so glad to see a toilet in my life.  You showered (??) by taking water out of the big red bucket on the right with a smaller scoop and then dumping it over you and getting wet, then soaping up, then dumping more water over you to rinse.  Brrr  it was cold.  The floor needless to say gets very slick so you must be careful.  You brush your teeth by spitting into the little hole on the floor that you can see to the right of the toilet.  Everyone needs to thank Heavenly Father tonight for the tender mercy and blessing of toilets and showers.

We took a hike up to see the micro Hydro Pump that was installed to bring electricity to the village.  It is quite a simple thing to see but it is responsible for all the electricity they get in the village.

Hiking through the jungle to get to the micro hydro turbine.

More hiking in the jungle.  Now I truly know what they mean when they say "it's a jungle out there".

This little green turbine is responsible for all the electricity for the village.  (That's Leo with us again) It does a remarkable job and is very eco-friendly.  The only problem is, if it rains really hard, debris will get caught in the line before it reaches the micro-hydro and plug it up.  Then someone has to hike up to the area and clear the debris.  But they are so grateful to have the electricity they don't mind the hike.  Say your prayers and thank your Heavenly Father for the gift of electricity.  While they have electricity now, they still must be careful how they use it.  If too many try to use too many appliances all at once, the power fades in and out. They are only supposed to use the electricity for their lights and the TV's (they all have Astro satelite dishes). Maybe in the future they will be able to get more turbines and increase their capacity.  But their power bill is remarkable, they pay Rm5 per month, which in US is about $1.75 a month regardless of how much electricity they use.