By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
September 12, 2003
The 2004 Presidential Campaign year began, we are told, on Labor Day 2003. For the next year we are going to hear how only government and electing the right politicians and more taxes can solve all problems
Yet, real problems are being solved by real people all over the world in ways that never make the news, much less the front page. Beginning in 1995 at the UN Beijing Women’s Conference, Susan Roylance, a devoted wife and mother of seven, and president of United Families International, was a pro-family delegate to a number of UN Conferences where she fought for family values. In an environment that ridiculed the traditional family, Susan became known at the UN as a staunch advocate for the family who didn’t cower when she was ridiculed for her views.
Last year, after Bob Roylance retired from his job that took him to farms all over the world, Susan in effect also retired from the United Nations and they went to Kenya to see if they could do something to help AIDS orphans live to be grown. Susan was the creator of the “Stay Alive” program, designed to teach children how to keep from getting AIDS. Wherever in Africa the Stay Alive program has been introduced, the number of new AIDS cases has decreased. .
However, in their travels they have seen many problems facing families and villages that could be solved with just a little bit of money and technology we take for granted. In a village called Chyulu, a major problem for the people and their economy was just a simple water shortage. Children came to school caked with dirt, and there was no water available for them to wash it off. Bob decided they needed a couple of wells and somehow they raised enough money among their friends back in Utah to pay to drill them. It was a HUGE event in Chyulu! Many of the people in Chyulu were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as are the Roylances. There was much excitement and hope. Unfortunately, the first well was disappointing. Before the second well was drilled, District President Mbie for the LDS Chyulu District blessed the site and promised it would produce a good well and the water quality would be good. The well was dug, and NO water was found. None! As Bob Roylance put it,
“The events in Chyulu during the last month were truly remarkable. We experienced all ranges of emotions and feelings, and we hit rock bottom last Monday. The driller and the Chyulu leaders had exhausted all avenues of getting the second well to produce and the output of the first well was disappointing. Last week when it became apparent that our expectations would not be met, I could see that our hopes and dreams were vanishing right before our eyes. This project was such an important part of our reason for being here and I began to question our role here. In addition, this failure would probably have a negative impact on all that we do here. So our future was looking pretty grim.“And so, when we came up with a dry hole, the LDS members in the area became very uneasy, (that’s putting it mildly). Our driller is a seasoned commercial driller and said that he knows a dry hole when he sees one and this hole was definitely dry. They had drilled to what they called the basement, a very hard rock that is absence of water and there was essentially no chance of going deeper to reach water. He said that in all of his drilling experience he has never seen a well that would not produce at least a little water. In the drilling processes they use a large compressor to blow the ground up rocks and soil out of the hole and if there is any water it is blown out too. No water was blown out.
“When I got to Chyulu, these men were definitely in a state of depression. The local Branch President, Julius Kasue, said that he was considering moving out of the area and I think that the driller was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Many sincere prayers were being offered during the last few days. And I was so worried about the implications this would have on the Church in this area. O ye of little faith.
“Then Julius made a passing comment that he had told the drilling crew to install a test pump to see how much water was in the well. Evidently, during the last few days the crew had reported that a little water had seeped into the well, however, they were sure that is was a very small amount. We did not have anything better to do, so I said let’s call them up to see what they had found out. I will never forget the look on Julius face when they told us what was happening. He could not believe what he was hearing and kept trying to clarify the numbers because he thought that it could not possibly be right. They had been pumping for one hour and they had the test pump at maximum capacity. We could not believe what we were hearing. As we rushed to the site, and saw a strong stream of water flowing, tears of joy flowed unrestrained. The pump was not only pumping at capacity, but the water in the well had risen to sixty-two feet from the surface and there was zero drawdown. This means that we would have to get a much bigger pump in order to test the capacity of the well, and that the pumping level was high enough to be feasible for irrigation purposes.”
Water for irrigation means Chyulu can grow food during the Africa drought years. Children can wash caked dirt off their bodies before going to school. Life in Chyulu is now not so grim – all because two people chose to DO something to help others rather than complain about what government isn’t doing.
Faith, plus compassion and hard work succeeded in Chyulu without ANY politicians. Maybe we could learn something here.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com