Water is everything

My husband gave me this picture (from the title page). It was drawn by Edward Sejjabi. He is an artist in Kabale, where we lived for three years. Click here to see an article about him in the Uganda Daily Monitor and more artwork. One day, I was getting something framed from him and saw this picture. It was so different from his other works, so I asked him about it. He told me that he wanted to demonstrate the contrast of wealthy people who have a bathroom with tile - so the geometric shapes on the margin tell the tale of wealth- and a poor man who is taking a bath at a ditch. This is a common site in Uganda, as is the repurposed cooking oil container he is using to scoop the water. No matter the method, they both get clean. I burst into tears. I have said before how I never knew my wealth until being confronted daily with poverty and material lack. It is a brutal gift and experience. I always wanted to do a series contemplating water in photographs. I have not done it yet, but here is a start. Each of the photos below tell the story of the importance of water.

Elisha Heals the Waters of Jericho

I never had to think so much about water as when living in a resource challenged place. We had to filter our water due to diseases in Uganda. In Western countries, we also filter due to contaminants or pollution. I remember reading this passage in the Bible and really wanting to be able to do this for a city!

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” “Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him, and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness. And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

This was our water filter system. We loved it and I have written about it before here.

Bottled water and basins became a big part of our life in Uganda. Water shortages demanded we supplemented from time to time with bottled water. I can’t tell you what a dilemma that was for living in a place that does not have formal recycling. Of course, they have a large network of REUSING everything. Everything is repurposed. We have a lot to learn from our Global Southern neighbors!

Basins in action. When the water would go out in the front of the house, we had a different system that piped to the back of the house. I could do dishes in the bathtub, which was new for me. Guess it does not matter.

Jerry cans Click on the name, if you want the history—I had no idea! This is also a ubiquitous site in Uganda and a must. Since moving back from Uganda, I have seen them in camping stores and at Wal Mart, so I am sure outdoors people and rural Americans know all about them. But I am a city girl and this was new for me. Once during a drought, I had to pack my car with these and drive to a public spout that caught run off from a mountain spring. I learned a new term, called “harvesting water.” My gardener went with me and it was quite a humbling experience. We drove past people with jerry cans on their heads and then got heckled by the neighbors for having a car and taking the water. It was public, but still, it hurts to share with outsiders. I didn't say a word, but just stood red cheeked as my gardener filled up our jerry cans. It was humiliating in a good way. I was desperate and had to take care of my family. I will never forget how helpless and unsure I felt.

When the city water is running, you pay to have this service. If you don’t lock your spout up, thieves will steal from you. Most people had a lock on private water spouts. That was humbling for me as we were there to help people and yet had to set boundaries like this that seemed to send mixed messages in my mind.

This was the original rain water cistern, but it was not enough to sustain a family of five for long drought periods or when the water pipes broke. Once, our roads were getting paved and that caused a lot of disruptions. The road crew were often untrained and water pipes are not marked, so we had to wait long periods of time for water to come back. During droughts, the rain water ran out. It was not drinkable water anyway.

During times of plenty, our house help, Precious and Christian washed our laundry here. I never could learn to hand wash and I was terrible at the little I did. These ladies had strong fingers and hands, but would have LOVED it if we had bought washers and dryers! It wasn’t practical due to the water and electricity shortages and lack of parts and people to fix the machines, not sustainable. The local systems work best!

We had this built as soon as we could save the money! It was the back up for the house when all else failed and it was the bomb! Fun fact. Before the barrel was put up, the tower was empty and a swarm of bees moved in—that was so intense. I remember my son saying, “Uh, mom, there are a lot of bees outside my window.” “Yes son, they love our garden.” “No, mom, like a LOT of bees.” A swarm! Man vs. nature is for real. Our poor gardener had to smoke them out from the ladder. Sigh.