While I walked the ditch through the quiet village, I measured a few spots, and noted the number of large rocks that needed to be chiseled for the pipe to pass. My local staff walked with me, trying to convince me to give them the go ahead. He was the first guy who I needed to encourage in order to get the momentum turned. I started by asking him when the best time was to solve problems with a water supply system. He and I both knew the answer: preventing the problems before the project is done. I pointed to a few areas where rocks were forcing the ditch to jut left and right, and asked him when the easiest time was to remove those rocks: now, or January? "Look at what these men and boys can do in just 1 day," I added, "They will not have any problem digging the ditch to 1 meter, if we encourage them to not give up and settle for a shallow trench that leaves their water supply at greater risk."
I continued to charge up this staff member with the task of building quality and problem prevention into this community's project, and he began to actively agree. I then praised him for being attentive to the wishes and the pace of the community, but pushed him to see that sometimes we have to motivate people to go far beyond what they were prepared to do, so that they get the results that match their labor; results they deserve. In this case, they needed a water pipe installed to a depth that is a standard acceptable to the frost and floods of this area. Then he countered that that I don't know this environment like the community and he knows it. I agreed, but maintained that we want to urge the community to use every tool they have to decrease their risks. I assured him that there would be no regrets from working an extra day to ensure this pipe was safe for years. Our talk went on for a while, and then we were joined by one of the men from the village council.
The staff member that I was talking with was not yet ready to ask the community to keep digging, so I turned next to this village leader. I used similar messages, but mixed in with his much more positive appraisal of the work that they had done, pointing out the potential it showed for quick and easy completion of the full 1 meter depth. He needed some examples of why it needed more work, so I showed him the rocks, explained how flow rate is affected by every added source of friction in the pipe, and that they could make the pipe flow better if their trench were done to standard. We talked for a while, and discussed his doubt of the pipe freezing in a 50cm trench. I then reminded him that this pipe was not always full of flowing water like a gravity-fed scheme, rather it sits full of unmoving water for most of the day, because of an electricity saving 1-way pipe valve that we installed at the top of the well (it doesn't allow any water to return to the well once it has been pumped out). His eyebrows went up signaling that he understood. I praised their hard work some more, and left the rest to him.
The village leader walked part of the length of the ditch, yelling out names of different families as he went. It didn't take long for boys to appear from a number of the houses around, with shovels and picks in hand. In minutes, this happened:
It was exciting to see how fast the community leader turned his opinion from "we're done, let's throw in the pipe and call it good enough," to, "let's spend the extra effort and do it right, right now." The boys might not have been in full agreement, but they listened to their leader and got to work.
Within an hour, enough sections had been dug an extra 20 cm that it would be obvious to everyone which standard was now required. The boys had set the new standard, and in the afternoon when the rest of the men returned it would be clear what needed to be done. Well done boys, Monday is pipe install day on this side!
AB for the win! Thanks be to θ.
ReplyDelete