July 13. I. A Bucket of Water

“Do you have running water where you are in the field?”

One day, Kevin in Uganda asked me whether there was running water in Sierra Leone. I have not heard the word, running water, but I presumed that is water from shower handle or facet. When I was in Mattru Jong, running but cold water were sufficiently coming out from shower handle, so I had not thought about water issues. Kevin said that he had no running water, no TV, no cell phone signal at home in the field.

But if you ask me again if I have running water in Sherbro Island guesthouse, I can answer, “No, I don’t have!” When I came here on Friday, a few drops of water came out from the showerhead, so it took a long time but I could take a shower. But the next day on Saturday, I could see dripping of water; the water dribbled down to the top of my head, and I tried to manage to wash my body under the inky darkness. Unfortunately, those precious drop of water stopped coming out. I walked all day long, and my clothes were drenched with sweat, so I really wanted to take a shower when I got back home! It was 10pm, and I did not know why electricity was not still provided, so I had to figure out what was happening in this guesthouse.

I wore clothes again hurriedly, and came down to the first floor to talk to employees. A boss of the guesthouse went to Bo early in the morning, and there were only teenage (I assume…) female employees in the office.

“I have no water, can I change the room? I want to take a shower. Why there is no light tonight? Blah-blah-blah…”

I wished I could speak Mende or Krio. They just said Yes or No, and I did not quite know what happened at that night. They brought one bucket of water for me. When I saw this water for the first time, I did not think it would be enough to wash my body; the soap would not be washed out completely, so I would meet worse situation. My whole body was uncomfortable, but I had to rush myself to sleep. That was all I could do.

Next morning on Sunday (today!), I turned on the shower facet, wishing that I could see water. Just the same, no water came out. I decided to ask them to give me another bucket of water. Margaret brought it in short course, setting a water jar on the head, so I could have two bucket of water. “Yes, it should be enough!” First, I scooped up small water with a cup, and poured water over my face. It was not that cold, and I felt myself refreshing. I did it a couple of more times, and used soap to wash my body. I found myself that I was enjoying this type of shower. And I was surprised that one bucket of water should be enough to take a shower if I manage to use it well. Each one scoop of water was precious. I used one and a half bucket of water to finish morning shower, and poured the left of water in the toilet to flush the waste. Sadly, the water was not enough to flush all of waste, and the bad smell from them attacked my nose. I put some tissues on the toilet water to make it look nicer.

What does a bucket of water mean to me? As always, I have wanted to live with the same environment as Sierra Leones do. Every morning, I saw people gathered at the water pump area and get some water in the bucket. They probably use it to take a shower. How much water have I wasted for my entire life? I was ashamed of myself. I have never experienced the lack of water, the lack of electricity, and the lack of cell phone and Internet connection. Of course, I have heard several times about the life of no water and no electricity from missionaries. But just listening and experiencing cannot be comparable. If you want to learn how to swim, you must get in the water; watching or reading swimming guide hundreds of time never enable you to swim.

Now, I truly appreciate what I had before coming here in Sierra Leone. Preciousness of water, precious of electricity, preciousness of tissue, preciousness of laundry machine, preciousness of soap, preciousness of flushing toilet water and toilet lid, preciousness of ignition and fire, preciousness of fuel and petroleum… I feel that I am coming back to the basic. If I am a person who have always seek a better one, I will change my mind from now; if I have a basic supply like water and electricity, I would be very happy. I have just heard that generator started making noise. Then, the bulb in the room went on. It is 7:30am and no more darkness, but I am confused why they operate the generator at this time. Anyway, I can charge the laptop and cell phone now, thanks to this morning electricity. I already have everything. I am not stinky anymore, I can see everything, and I am ready to go to church and see community health workers in this afternoon. I appreciate that I can spend another precious day.