Draught 2

Searching For The Ever Living Water

It was in 1992 the year of draught I saw with my very own eyes in our country. People and animals had to walk very long distances to search for water. For anyone to bring home some water, that person had to woke up as early as 03:00 and walk for a distance of about 13 kilometers.

I tell you it was so awful. When going there you had to be really careful for it would be in the forest and dark. There a lot of people would meet, good, bad, young and old. A lot of animals in the area would come and drink also from the same source. Can you imagine what it was like? All living organisms. Maybe this would also make the water not safe for anyone to use for it was an open water source.

I having been fed up of waking up as early as 03:00 in the morning, walk about 26 kilometers to and from and besides, there was another problem. How to bring the load home. I was sick and tired of this everyday. So I always wondered if I was ever going to get any rest in my life.

At our home we needed a lot of water for normal house use and also for the chicken. So not going for the water was not the solution to our problems. Our parents would feel pity for us but there was no way they were to help us.

One Friday evening my dad came home for the weekend. The next morning, I woke up so tired. I could not make it for the water. My parents never checked if I was gone. They thought I had gone for I always do that on my own. I woke up around 06:30. The sun was already up. On discovering that there was no water to use for the day, my parents were very disappointed with especially me since I was the biggest. If I had woken up the other kids, we would have gone.

Everybody was a bit unfriendly with me that day. I did not like it to have everyone angry with me. I was very very cross with myself. I decided to take a walk in the fields. About 500 meters there was a very small pond. It was not more than 1,5 meters deep. It used to have water all year round that is if we had a normal raining season for that year.

I also remembered that we had abandoned it not because it now had no water but because the water was now very little, difficult to access and at times muddy if disturbed. "There could still be something, I thought to myself. I ran to the small pond.
Around it, it was all green. There was a sign of life. When I got there, there was no water but the soil in there was moist.

I ran home to tell everyone, but no one could believe me. I knew if the pond was a bit deeper, maybe we would get plenty of water. So it looked like I had a lot of digging to do, on my own. I began work right away. I tell you. It was not easy. By the end of the day I was so tired even to take a bath. The following morning mom and dad were to be away for the next five days. So it was to be only me at home.

I woke up, walked the 26km f0r the water. Around 07:00 I went to the small pond. First I had to empty it of its contents. Broken pieces of trees, leaves and the grass. I then took a hoe and a shovel then I began work. I think you can imagine what I was going through. It was not easy to. Around 11:00, I was so tired and hungry. So I went for lunch.

Just as I was about to go back to the pond, I thought it would be nice if I was to tell my neighbors about it and ask them to come and help for it was to benefit all of us. It was better if I had not consulted them. Not only did they not believe me but they also made a mockery out of me. I was so cross that I did not want anyone near me. I just wanted to be on my own. I went on and carried on with my work.

The third day, it was so disappointing. I had reached some sort of a barrier. It was a rock that covered the whole base of my pond. Some of the guys who had refused to help came by. They told me I was wasting my time. It looked like I was doomed. I threw in the towel. It seemed there was no way out. End of day, I went home with no hope of returning the following day.

The following morning, after the usual morning duties, I went for a walk to the pond with no tools. I could not believe my eyes. The rock was covered with a layer of mud. At once I knew water was present. There was no time to waste. I just said to myself, I know that what I am looking for is just between this rock and me. Even if it looks this tough, I am not going to give up until I get there.

This time it was more of a pick, chisel and a 12-pound hammer in use and less in the use of the shovel. Day 5 it looked hopeless but I never gave up. It was around midday, when there was suddenly a very big crack that cuts across the base. I could not believe my eyes. Even though I was so tired, I was so excited that I forgot that I was tired. By end of day much of the rock was gone.

That evening, mom and dad came home with the kids but I was too tired to wake up. The following morning after the usual morning duties, I rushed to the pond. Now this was happening without the knowing of anyone at home. In half an hour, much of the rocks that needed to be out were out. Now it was much of the pick and the shovel and now a bucket and a rope to carry the gravel out.

When I came back from lunch and after a little rest, I was even happier. It was much of the mud in the pond. Even though they were not at all easy to carry out of the pond, I was more than jut glad to find them. I knew maybe, next it was going to be a lot of water. I dug on.

The sun was going down faster than I was. I wish I could do anything about it. I wish I could lift my hand and shout, Sun stand still. My only way was to move faster. I met another layer of rock. But this one was softer and easy. I only used a pick to dig this one. Under it, there was lose soil. I did not even have to dig it. I just had to use the shovel.
Now I was moving faster than ever. The only problem was how to get the soil out. Sooner, It was the running mud that was the problem. Before I could realize it, it was the water. 45 minutes later, I was afraid of drowning. So I had to get out and run home with the good news. I guess my parents have been looking for me all day.

When I got home, they were all very disappointed in me. I just ran in and dropped myself on the floor in the house and yelled, "Water! I have found some water! I told them all about it. Still they could not believe me even though they could see my wet clothes. We all went down to the small pond. Everyone was happy even though they did not see the water since it was sunset. They felt it for it was dark. Dad threw a stone we all heard the water splashing.

We were all very happy. We started singing and dancing around the small dam. I wanted to get in and get my shovel and pick I had left in there. My dad told me we would get them the next morning. We went home.

The following morning, we were all shocked to discover that the pond was half full. We took out as much water as we could but we could hardly see any change in the level of water. We made our garden even bigger this time. The livestock was also getting some water from there. But to my own surprise, the more we used the water the more the dam got full and the water gets clean.

In about a week's time, the water was flowing out. I guess the more it got hot, the more the water would come out. Most people in our area were now coming to get
the water from that small dam. Even those who had made a mockery out of me, they came also. Even
though the pond was not all that big, the water was always available and free for all.

It was not easy to dig that pond but it was worth it. Tell you what; there was water in that pond all year round in the year of the massive drought. Most big well-known dams dried out but that one never did. If it did not dry out during the rest of the dry season, what more with
the normal rain seasons.

This exactly applies with the love that God Has for us
in our lives. Seeking and finding Jesus in our lives, is a
life process. This story reminds me of the days
from where I started to know God up to where I am
right now and makes me imagine what it is going to be like in the end. I know when we make it there we are going to live eternally. The all called it THE POND OF LIBERTY (freedom and peace.) Some still do.