The Early Bird Gets the Water!

     When I lived in the village, my host brothers fetched water for the family.  The water was pumped from a natural spring to an outdoor tap which was about 30 yards from the house.  They hauled four 10 gallon containers in a wheelbarrow and placed them outside my door.  In the mornings, I would open my door and fill both my 5 gallon containers.  I would then fill a 2 gallon kettle and set it to boil.  Even though the spring water is crystal clear, I boiled the water for 3 minutes as required by Peace Corps.  The boiled water from the kettle was used for bathing, cleaning, and washing dishes.  By evening, what was left in the kettle was cool enough to pour into the water filter, provided by Peace Corps, to be used for drinking and cooking. 

     Today, I live in a Camptown.  A Camptown is where the villagers come to buy goods.  There are also banks, bars and buses; and taxis headed to many different villages and other Camptowns.  You can also get to Maseru, the Capital city of Lesotho.  There is a local government in the Camptown where I live, and water is provided by the water company.  However, in most homes, it still comes through a tap in the yard.  My tap is about 5 yards from my door.  Once I moved in, my organization decided to put a tap in my kitchen so that I would have easy access to water from inside my house.   This water is not so clear.  Since I live across the street from the major grocery store, I purchase my drinking water, but other than this, my basic village routine remains the same.

Lately, we’ve been having water problems.  The taps are dry; especially the one inside my kitchen.   Apparently, after a substantial rain fall, the water company’s filters get clogged with silt and must be cleaned.  At least this is what I I’ve been told.   In order for me to get water, I must again use the tap outside which for reasons I can’t explain, has a little bit of water every afternoon when I arrive.  I must use the water sparingly.  Bath water is used to flush the toilet, (I’m lucky, to have a flush toilet), and water used to wash dishes is then used to clean to house.  Recently I have discovered that if I get to the tap around 5:30a the water is running rapidly and I can collect a full bucket.  I suspect that the old man next door was taking advantage of my ignorance and has been beating me to the tap every day.  

     I’ll be going back to my village on Sunday for another week of training.  And as always, I will remember to thank my brothers for providing water in abundance for me to use on a daily basis.

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Some people see the glass as half full, others see the glass as half empty, but a Peace Corps volunteer sees the glass and says, “I can bathe in that!”

Xoxoxo