Water is the source of life. We all know it, but we don't give it much consideration. Until we don't have enough. When water is scarce, it becomes a top priority. Water was one of the first considerations after moving. How to get it, where to keep it, and how to use it wisely.
Indoor running water is rare, even in Kinshasa. You can find pockets of it, and certainly whole neighborhoods that have access, at least occasionally. But everywhere in Africa the search for water takes effort and time. Gemena is no different. Water can be bought from Regidiso, the national water supply company. Regidiso stations are sprinkled all over the town. People bring their yellow containers - the bidon- to the stations throughout the day. There is an attendant at the well who collects money and monitors the filling of the containers. Bidons are an essential accessory for gathering and storing water. The next level up in water storage involves the large blue or sometimes black plastic barrel placed somewhere inside your house, usually the bathroom. The blue barrel is where you source your water from all day, parceled out in buckets. Buckets for washing dishes, buckets for washing clothes, washing self, flushing the toilet. Whatever you need water for, you're going to need a bucket.
We're pretty lucky to be located not far from the well, although I am told it can run dry. It takes about 10 bidons to fill our water needs for more or less than a week, depending how many clothes need to be washed or other unexpected events.
We keep our large blue barrel in the bathroom alongside the sink. I am always perplexed by the intricate bathroom appliances. There is a sink, a toilet, and a fancy shower head- none of it actually working. I have visited a house where it all works, at least occasionally. But I wonder if the set up here ever worked, and who thought there would be running water- or why there isn't running water. All the parts exist in case someone wants to take the next steps. I know it is possible.
For now, we are on the bucket system and I don't mind it at all. I could make a good case for why everyone should be on the bucket system. It makes water sacred again. It doesn't take long to figure out how much a bucket full of water can do- or a half bucket. It's always better to take less. And it's not as heavy lifting out of the barrel. All the water chores and water needs take on new meaning when you know you're on a ration.
I often think back to one of my first extended stays in Guinea. We were on the second floor and they kept bringing water every morning. No one ever showed me how to flush a toilet that is not hooked up for automatic flushing. I guess they assumed I knew. It turns out the toilet works perfectly fine if you just fill up the tank manually. For every flush, you need to pour a bucket or a half bucket of water in the tank. This makes you very aware of how often you are flushing and how much water it actually uses. I suspect if people in Europe had to use the manual fill method, water-less toilets would get a lot more attention...and funding. (I sense a series of posts about how, if these problems were affecting other parts of the world, there would be whole new outcomes. From electricity to water to malaria...solutions exist. Access remains inequitable.)
I see the lines of people, all ages and genders, lined up to get water each morning next to where I sometimes buy my tea. It always feels simultaneously backward and progressive. It's not a hard stretch to imagine this as the future situation across the world. As water becomes more controlled and less available, people will be lining up to buy their share. For many parts of the world, it will take a dramatic adjustment to get used to, but here, it will be business as usual. On most days, I think everyone should move to the bucket and bidon system now. Maybe save the running water for hospitals and schools, or places with high public occupation. But for daily living, in personal houses, there's no reason why everyone can't benefit from being more fully present and aware of their water usage.
Of course, it all takes time. No more washing machines or dishwashing machines. No more 'touch of a button' lifestyle. I absolutely admit that I can manage most of the adjustments, but finding time to wash clothes on my own would be a super challenge without help. We tend to chalk most of the excess and waste in Western lives up to time- there's no time, it's faster, easier, more efficient. But is it really?
It's merely an exchange of attention. By no longer focusing our attention on how we use our water, we forget to be sacred with it. But it also means we are focusing attention elsewhere- and this seems like a good place to start. Are the things we've diverted our attention to really more important, or do they just seem that way? What could be more important than water, the source of life?
I am over here missing many things that make life comfortable and enjoyable- one of them going to the gym. Having time to focus on my physical self definitely feels like a luxury. And every time I heft a bucket of water from the large blue barrel I think about how strenuous all the lifting and carrying is. Even though I am on the bucket system, I'm not really on the bucket system. Someone else is carrying my water for me, either pushing it in a cart or making laborious trips back and forth to the well.
At all times of the day I see women carrying water on their heads. Young boys carry water in that lopsided way, leaning far over to one side and walking fast until they stop, rest a minute, and go the next stretch. I see kids sitting next their pushcarts, relishing a moment in the shade, sometimes playing, sometimes just considering the scenes around them. Collecting water takes energy, community, and intention.
I'm sure the people I am writing about would be happy to have indoor water. I am not trying to suggest that convenient systems don't contribute to health and happiness. I'm just wondering what the balance between working for water and mindlessly wasting water could look like.
