I figure I should write a primer on the Kwite aqueduct to add some context to a few upcoming posts on the epic saga that is the construction of the aqueduct in Kwite.
Kwite is located an hour downriver from my community, Calante. It's where the boat stops and from there I hike the hour upriver to Calante. Kwite is also where Jon, the nearby volunteer, lives. Jon and I are working on a water system, bringing water from the foothills about an hour and a half away. It's the closest clean source and that long distance has been the bane of our existence the past year and a half.
Upon arrival, Kwite was motivated to work. That lasted all of a month before the community started drinking to the detriment of work day attendance. Then came the rains. After a long hiatus, we resumed burying tubes. Commitment would ebb and flow for the next year. Poco a poco we advanced towards the source burying as we went. Finally we made it with the exception of bridge crossings across all the streams between the source and Kwite. We flipped the switch at the source and water... didn't flow.
After troubleshooting and surveying, we found that the original path coming down from the source, that was laid long before we got to Panama, went higher than the source. So we redirected the line and water began to flow. Then we started on the bridges to connect the lengths of already buried tube.
I'm leaving out another season of heavy drinking and heavier rain, electing a new water committee, pleading with community members to work, and general malaise over the pace and lack of interest on Kwite's part. But I digress.
So that's about where we're at. Read Le Coup de Grace Deux to find out what happened next.
