Water Is Life

Water is life. A coworker said that to me recently. And I never really understood it until recently. As a PCV, we often ask ourselves the question, “what would we rather have: electricity or water?” Until recently, I would have said electricity. Now, my answer would be water. 

A neighbor came to our compound to fill up water at my landlady's jojo.

 It has been 8 weeks since I have had running water. At first, it was difficult because the large jojo that my landlady has that stores water was empty. Thankfully, the Red Cross was wonderful and helped me fill up buckets with water and drive them to my house when I need it. 

The jojo that my landlady uses to fill up with water.

After my landlady was able to fill up her jojo, it was a lot better, and I could access water in my front yard. However, the jojo water is not drinkable. There are far too many worms and other bacteria in there for me to drink it safely without boiling it. It is OK to bathe in and flush my toilette. To drink, I either have to boil the water and then filter it (which takes a long time), or I go to the Red Cross with water bottles and carry the water back to my house. I opt for the second choice, as it is much more convenient. Unfortunately, Red Cross sometimes runs out of water too. 

The containers that I store water in.

I have become very good at conserving water. I can now bathe with half a bucket of water. Three weeks ago, the water came on for a few days, and when I was bathing, I had about half a bucket of water left each time after my bath that I didn’t know what to do with. 

 Thankfully, my water situation isn't as bad as it could be. Having access to water in my front yard is wonderful, and I don't mind carrying water to and from work to drink. There are a lot of PVCs who have worse water situations that me. 

And, when all else fails, I do this: 

Trying to collect enough water to bathe in.

Thankfully, it's the rainy season.