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Loving Kindness Chronicles - Africa

Today after breakfast, we went to a local hospital to do a COVID-19 test for our flight tomorrow. We had a
chance to stop by the souvenir shops with a great variety of items and the shopkeepers were very warm and
friendly welcoming us into their shops. Everyone was excited to select gifts to bring back for friends and family.

Seven days had passed and the final moments of the trip always carried so much lingering fondness. Even so,
everyone on the team was full of determination and enthusiasm to not let the remaining time pass in vain. With
the social distancing regulation in mind and for the safety of our team and everyone else, we made our way to a
secluded rural village unannounced to inaugurate the 14th well and give out food items to several people. Since
we were not able to gather in one place, our team decided to carry bags of rice, sugar, and beans to give to the
villagers individually at their homes. The amount distributed was certainly not as much as the previous givea-
ways but it was still a gift that warmed the hearts of the residents around here.

Upon our arrival at the construction site in progress for the 14th well, which was behind a small school, we
had the opportunity to see and understand more about the process of constructing a well. First, the land for the
well is selected and an engineer needs to calculate the water level in order to decide whether to dig by hand or
drill with a machine. This particular 14th borehole had to be dug by hand, then they would lay bricks to cover
the sides of the borehole from the bottom up, install a pump and finish with some concrete work on the ground
surface. There were some boreholes that took a month to complete. Based on the experience of the villagers and
Bhante Buddharakkhita, a well such as this one could last for a very long time. There is a similar well at the
Uganda Buddhist Temple that the villagers have been using for over ten years and the water is still very good.
On behalf of the village, the principal at this school thanked Huong Tu Foundation for helping the students and
the entire village with this well. Every day, the teachers and students have to delay class to go fetch buckets of
water from another village. However, because too many people use it, they often have a shortage of water. With
this new well, they would not have to miss class to go fetch water anymore. They were very happy and extreme-
ly grateful to Huong Tu and all the benefactors. As
she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes making the

atmosphere suddenly become somber.

To dispel that somber atmosphere, we continued
with bringing gifts to the individual households in the
area. With much gratitude, the villagers picked avo-
cados and ripe passion fruits for the whole team. The
team members also did not hesitate to pick some
fruits themselves to enjoy on the spot. Young jack-
fruit was also a snack introduced to the team as well
as the experience of climbing the jackfruit tree to
pick its fruit. After our time with the villagers here,
we returned to the area where people lived in very
poor temporary shelters. We came bearing gifts for
each household living in little dilapidated, empty huts
which certainly changed the attitude of the residents
toward our team. The first time we visited this loca-
tion, the residents seemed unwelcoming. This time
was different, they were all very happy and grateful
because they had never received this kind of love and
support before. It was also from this location that the
Compassion Orphanage of the Uganda Buddhist Cen-
tre took in one child and that concluded our schedule
for the day.

Tomorrow will be our last day here, what will we
do? What sort of joy is in store for us? Let’s wait and
see.

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