From After the Monsoon to Before the Rains

Water - It is essential for all of us.  Generally I don't give  a thought to my water source, its course to my bathroom tap, or the parasites it might be carrying.  A couple of weeks in South Sudan in January, before the rains, changed my perspective again.

The day time heat caused us to lose water constantly and it was hard to stay hydrated.  Bottled water is both expensive and contributes to the unsightly mounds of uncollected litter which now decorate the South Sudanese towns and villages.  I felt better about using my water filter bottle, but wondered if it really was filtering out all that the manufacturer promised.  When the whole team came in they brought an enormous water filter for the whole group.  That really helped us consume more, but the thought of trips to the iguana inhabited latrine was a psychological deterrent to drinking more.  Who could look forward to the trip to the pungent, dark, cramped quarters?  The boys in the orphanage quickly caught on to our dislike of the latrine lodgers and gallantly went noisily before us to shoo them out, and when our brave knights were absent I dramatically kicked the door ahead of me.  Iguanas were sure they weren't welcome and the loud crashing emboldened me to risk entry.

Mary, matron of the orphanage, chief of the kitchen staff, member of the PTA (in South Sudan the Parent Teacher Association is the bottom rung of local government), was often the first person in the whole compound up and supervising the start of water collection and tea making.  She kindly even allocated boiled water for our 'kawaja' (white faces) showers.  We had one bucket of hot water, one bucket of water straight from the pump (luke warm) and an old bottle to use as a scoop.  It is surprising how satisfying this modified showering could be.  It is also surprising how difficult it is to wash off Sudanese dust.

There is now a water pump within the orphanage compound which means that the women and children (usually girls) only have to walk a couple of minutes for the heavy containers of water instead of the 15 minutes that it used to take to the village pump.  It is remarkable that even little girls learn to carry and balance the large loads.  Often one or two others will help lift the vessel onto the carrier's head, and many of the women wear a circled rag on their heads to make the head a bit more comfortable.  I was humbled when I walked off to the pump with a mother and daughter and I was given the equivalent of the little child's bucket to carry home and the small daughter gracefully balanced a huge container.

In my attempts to stay under permitted weight and maximize volume of materials for the orphanage I took in only two sets of clothes.  This led to a constant need for laundry. (I'll allow myself three sets next time. :))  I felt too awkward to ask Mary and her staff to do laundry every day and so trotted off to the water pump with my soap and dusty clothes.  Ideally you'd go to the pump with another person.  Just lining up the bucket or container with the spout is easier with a second person.  The first day I didn't even take a bucket and provided much entertainment as I tried to clean my clothes without dropping the wet garments  back onto the dusty ground.  Someone kindly trotted off and got me a bucket and after that I managed to snag one on my daily laundry excursion.  No trouble getting laundry dry in this season.  I followed the local trend of laying my wet clothes on the compound fence of woven grass.  There were a couple of disasters when a gust of wind blew the fresh laundry back into the dirt, but eventually I managed to anchor large pieces and kept the smaller ones inside our tukul.

Day 2 at home and I am luxuriating in long hot showers and delighting in the convenience of my washing machine.