Kakuma, January 18

January 18, 2016
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It was a relatively uneventful day today in the field. The chai mendazi are losing their novelty. And spooking camels away from our cables has become as routine as swatting mosquitoes in Alberta. Today, we continued to explore for water well drilling targets for the Turkana people living in and passing within close proximity to the UNHCR proposed 60,000 person Kakuma Refugee Camp expansion. The IsraAID WASH students are essentially now running the entire survey with the Calgarians simply supervising. We moved our survey area west, away from what appear to be areas of very high salinity. The results are looking better, and we may have a few targets in an area of saturated, fractured rock. We will continue our exploration in this area for two more days, and then move back to the Refugee Camp for a final day of exploration. Exploring in the Kalobeyei area was one of our main technical goals in the SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists) GWB (Geoscientists Without Borders) grant under which we are operating.

(click photos for caption)

The film crew of Brendan and Josie went in different directions. Josie filmed the opening ceremonies of IsraAID’s latest introductory WAMTECH (Water Management TECHnology) classes, including a women only class. Brendan carried on filming the IsraAID students and Calgary geophysicists in the field, occasionally stopping people in mid-machete swing for a short interview. It is likely his best footage today will be of Landon Woods again carrying 40 kg of cable on his back, but this time working his way through an impenetrable tangle of acacia and other thorny vegetation, and not smiling about it as in some of his cable laying ventures earlier in Laga Tarach.