These pictures were taken of the La Pita well during the last week of April. The main bore is complete and lined with cement. A protective brick or cement border is yet to go. That's Danny on the right, so I don't know who was holding the camera. I captured these pictures from Danny's website and just know bits and pieces about what is going on. So I may have gotten some things mixed up or wrong. Danny can fix the text when he comes back in August.

The entire job was done by hand since they don't have power tools or heavy equipment in this area. The well shaft is over 60 feet deep and was about 8 feet across. They work their way down the shaft with picks and shovels, and haul the rock and dirt back up by bucket. I think Danny said most of the dangerous work was done by a team of 3 people that specialize in digging wells. It looks like it was very slow, hard work.

The structure in the background that looks like a barn in the above picture, is probably a pretty nice house for this area.

The structure in the background of this picture is more typical of the local homes I have seen in small remote villages like La Pita. A family of 10 or more will live in a structure like that. In many cases they have to take turns sleeping at night since there isn't room for everyone.

There is a more noticeable difference between Nicaragua and Costa Rica than between Costa Rica and the USA. Wages in Nicaragua are a fraction of what they are in Costa Rica. A laborer will make about 30 cents an hour for a 10 hour day of hard labor. It gets pretty hot during the mid-day. I hauled water from a well to mix concrete for one of the floors they poured two years ago. After about 3 hours I could hardly haul up the 5 gallon buckets. I don't think I would last for a single 10 hour day in that heat. Many Nicaraguans cross into Costa Rica to work for higher wages than they could hope to make at home.

Another difference between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is the number of children you see. In Costa Rica, all children attend school up to a certain age, and they usually wear white and blue uniforms. Thus, during the week you don't see a lot of kids running around during school hours. In Nicaragua there are always lots of kids running around. Lots and lots and lots of kids. That is the first big difference I really noticed the next time I went to Costa Rica.

The above two pictures were taken last summer. These are the holes in the ground which provided the village drinking water supply. When in Nicaragua always drink bottled water, and don't use the ice. Now you know why they tell you that.