water-free living

Running out of water has become an all too common occurence; five or six night a week our buiding runs dry after dinner. There's a limited amount of water to supply the entire dormitory and with the sunny (laundry-washing) weather, it's become a problem.

Today the problem was worse and the entire school seems to have no running water. It ran for a short while this morning, then without any explanation or warning, it was gone. All day long. Late this afternoon we noticed girls walking toward the gate carrying red buckets, then walking back within minutes--buckets filled to the brim. Aha! There's water somewhere. Audrey and I borrowed a red bucket from our neighbor and set off to find the water source.

It was this well, so I stuck the bucket in and scooped it up, dragged it home and poured it down the toilet (ew!), then we headed back for more to wash dishes.

Showers were impossible, so people made do with what they had. One girl was washing her hair using a smaller bucket and a wash tub. Later, when we went to the market for dinner, there was a whole pack of men standing in their gymn shorts, lathering up, then rinsing with buckets pulled from the well. Where's the camera when I need it?