Monday, January 19, 2009

Fetching Water and enjoying the journey

Fetching Water Our homes are plumbed for water and someday we hope to have it actually working. Water is in short supply in Rwanda as is the pressure to pump it most of the time. Thus we get water from a big drum in the yard or go about a 25 minute was to a pump where we can buy it for 100 rwandan francs per jug. Or about 20 cents. But when you consider the average person make just a dollar a day you can see how carefully that water needs to be used. Bathing. The little kids sit in a small kid size tub and the Mommies carefully place water and soap on them. The older kids can do it a bit by themselves. They stand in the bucket and use a small amount of water from a pail to suds up. The kids use just a tiny tiny bit of water for brushing their teeth etc etc. This week I joined Valence (the night watchman) as he went to get the water. Of course it was a day that rained and I had all my camera gear so I didn’t get too many photos. He was sweet, he kept tucking under overhangs so we could try to stay a bit dry. One of the stops was for another pump system. There were about 25 containers lined up ready to be filled from a garden hose like thing. It was stationed in a small building much like you would find when filling your propane tanks in the states. The people there thought the Moozoongoo (me) was a most unexpected visitor. First they did not want to welcome me, but eventually they warmed to my presence and eventually let me take just a few shots. They waved goodbye as we continued on our journey. The wheelbarrow that carries the water is light on the outbound (empty containers) trip but on the return is was slow going. The slower we move the better from my pov as I love to soak in the life that surrounds me and let people react to me and me to them in return. Not many people welcomed me to take photos but I did get a couple as you’ll see in this entry. If I had my way I would just hang out and get to know these wonderful people. But, alas we continue on. The people love seeing their photo in the display of the camera. It’s great humor as the 1st time they seee it they giggle, then the crowds form and want to see it. The adorable young woman kept bringing more and more people from her house to see the photo and then kept posing. We had a great time.

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