The problem with water...

One of the most common complaints I hear from my friends in Yaho is the problem with water.  Yaho doesn't have running water, but did have a water filter and pump system put in by WaterAid.  There were about 5-7 places around the village where you could go and get treated water from a spigot/tap/etc for 10FCFA ($0.02) for 25 liters of water.  Not a bad system.  Of course functionaires (teachers, nurses, etc) will whine that they don't have running water in their houses, but we work with what we have, right?  There is a spigot within walking distance for almost everyone and certainly within biking distance for everyone.  The water was treated; so less people got sick and they didn't have to haul water out of a well themselves.

Well, about 3 months ago, the filter system broke. And it's going to cost lots of money to fix it... I think that the money collected from every fill-up is supposed to be set aside and then used in case of emergencies such as this, but the problem is bigger than they anticipated.  And because no one can come get water, they have no way of making any more money.  Needless to say, it's a problem.  Women now use open-well water for their cooking, cleaning, drinking or they have to walk/bike a much further distance to get clean water.  Open wells are almost everywhere, so they're convenient and most women choose to use them.  Unfortunately, because they're open, there are problems with sanitation.  Anything can (and does) run into the wells, making the water unsafe to drink.  There are two direct-source pumps in the village, one near the center of town and the other over 1km away at the school where I teach.  But if you don't have a bike, do you really want to carry 25L of water on your head?

During this last school year, I would just bring my water containers to school and students would bring them home for me.  On weekends I would use the WaterAid water.  This summer I was already not looking forward to having to get my own water, and once the WaterAid pumps broke, that job became even more of a challenge.  There were many (many) days were I would seriously consider if a shower or washing dishes was really necessary if it meant I would have to go get water (for the record, shower is usually worth it, dishes are not).  This summer I was also in and out of village a lot, so getting into a routine was difficult.  The last time I was in Yaho I did finally seem to get a routine down and thought i would share with you all my typical day's excursion to the pump!

First, I would strap the container to my bike and head off to school. There I would stand and pump water for maybe 5 minutes before strapping it back on.  The container is 25L, so about 50lbs when full.

i should probably clean the container...

 Every now and then I will run into some kids at the pump who help me get water, but that's pretty rare these days because they're out in the fields.  After filling up the jug, lugging it up onto my bike, and strapping it down tight, I bike off.  The roads are also really bad right now because the rains wash them out.  If it rained that morning or the day before, I sometimes have to walk my bike so I don't get stuck in the mud.  I'm getting better at mud biking, but falling with one of those jugs strapped to your bike is less than fun. Not that I would know, of course :)

one of the girls i see everyday biking to school.  she offered to hold my bike for the picture and seemed disappointed that i only needed one jug so i wouldn't be back :)

this is where it can get muddy... less than fun.

After the bike back i unstrap the jug, lug it into the house and continue to convince myself that showering is worth the effort.  I only use about one of the containers a day (25L), which is roughly the same amount of water used in flushing a US toilet twice.  During hot season, the amount of water i drink a day and the amount I need to shower is almost the same (5-ish liters).

Luckily, school starts again in a week; meaning that the days of making my students do all sorts of manual labor can start once again :)