Update on Wall/Drainage Ditch

Many of you saw our post on FaceBook last week asking for prayer regarding the feud that started at 6am and went on for most of the day last Monday.  Here are photos that will hopefully help you "see" for yourself what we were talking about and some background information about the property...

At the back of the property where we live there are two drainage ditches.  They merge into one and exit at the front of the property. One ditch enters from the road and the other from the "neighborhood" on the back side of the property. 

Not long after we moved in, the wall construction was complete and we had the grates made and put in place to close up the holes for safety reasons.  While it is pertinent for rain water to pass through, it's not for people.

These (2) photos are from inside the wall behind Yehn Yehn's house (on the property).

 

(NOTE: This is the area where men and women were standing and yelling 

when I woke up.)

These (2) photos show the view from the "road-side" of the wall.

(As you can see, the road is pretty high at this section of the wall and we have discussed the need for several more rows of bricks to prevent more from climbing over.)

This is the 2nd drainage area at the back of the property where we wound up having to remove the grate per Mayor's orders.  

These next (2) photos show the drainage area at the front of the property.

We have had a lot of rain lately since there's a tropical depression coming from the Caribbean and the ditches have looked more like raging rivers than the gentle stream shown above but you get the idea. 

All of the ditches have approximately 3'x3' holes under/in the wall for the water to pass through.  When the rains are heavy, water and lots of trash wash down from the mountains. Some of the trash washed through the grates recently but mounds of leaves, trash and other debris from the street and the community clogged the grates and the water backed up. There are no drainage ditches in the areas behind the property and that leads to standing water during normal rains but when there was extra water it caused a significant problem - and (according to them) it was all our fault.  

Their recommended solution was to tear down part of the wall.  They didn't want to clean up their trash or construct drainage ditches near their houses because no one was paying them to.  After all, they "didn't have any problems when there was no wall there" and their trash could just flow freely into the river.

The argument continued for most of the day between the said neighbors and John, Yehn Yehn (and a few others that stood by our side).  By early afternoon, the local mayor showed up to issue a ruling. His decision was that all of the grates needed to be removed, rebuilt with hinges (so they could be opened during heavy rains) and re-installed. He did not, however, make mention that any others were responsible for their own trash or that they needed to work together to take care of the drainage issues around their homes. 

The perception of many around here is that because we are Americans, we have tons of money and can pay to have anything done. We explained that in spite of the majority opinion, among the trees on the property they do not include a money tree and we obliged to make the other modifications when we could afford to do so. We had to cut out one of the grates (as shown above) where the main flooding occurred and modified the one at the front.

Thank you for your concern and your continued prayers!  It is such a comfort to hear from so many of you and to know that you are praying for us!