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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Getting Water From the Roots

The average human body is 65% water.

71% Earth’s surface area is covered in water.

No running water in the village means the average Gidiama life is WATER.

We are blessed to have a tap on our property. All other families use wells or boreholes to obtain water. However, the accessibility to a tap does not guarantee the safe delivery of water. Daytime hours never bring water. Usually in the quiet of night, I hear Shedrack, my Kenyan brother, at my window softly calling, “Ellie, Maji.” I’ll shake my limbs into function and unlock the doors to deliver our 20 liter jugs into his wanting hands. We sit under a star-studded mango tree murmuring over the trickling tap.

One jug in each hand, we take turns trudging back to the house to empty the jugs into the waiting 250L drums. With a deep knee bend and the summoning of bicep power, the drum filling deed is accomplished once. Now, about 11 jugs to go (depending on how dry each drum is). The jug gluggg-gluggg-glugggs into the drum. It’s mesmerizing.

We continue in the sloshing, glugggging, bubbling, trickling sounds of the night.

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As of late, the tap has been unresponsive in all hours of the day and night. We have been relying on the rains to supply us with the resource. The rains seem to know when I’m literally diving into the drums to reach the final pitchers of water. They have been quick to follow our lack with a downpour.

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The seasons continue; the rains are beginning to taper; harvesting rain water can not be relied upon. The nearby tap hasn’t been delivering- I think it’s an issue with the pipe. The wells are good, just far, but we must go.

We spend afternoons at the well with the other mommas; it’s a biblical feeling. We sit around and chat. One gal will pump for some time and fill up the available jugs and containers that are near. Once she tires, the next woman will take her place. The woman pumping, does not only fill her family’s jugs, but continues on to the surrounding ones too. Some things here are an ever present reminder of where our heritage comes from, the Israelites. It feels good to try to understand my roots.

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