Published via Ecency

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Water is life and it's not just a saying, it's the truth. It's more than just being something we use, it is what keep life going. From morning till night, water is almost part of everything we do.

Water is one of those things people don't really think about until it's no longer there, we drink it when we're thirsty, cook with it, clean with it and even use it to grow food. It is so normal and familiar that people do not stop to think about how important it really is.

You turn on a tap, water comes out and that's it.

When there is plenty of water, people waste it without thinking that someone elsewhere might just be praying for a single bucket.

Where I come from, water is not something you take for granted, you don't turn on a tap and forget about it.

Because there's really no tap to turn on and even if there is, there's no chance water is going to come out.

I grew up in a town where water was hard to find, like really hard. Every drop counts when water is scarce.

I had to wake up early before the sun comes up, because if by chance I don't, someone else will get there first. And once that happens, I'd either have to wait for hours or go back home empty-handed.

There was a borehole in our town. Just one. We all depended on it, even though it doesn't work well sometimes.

My siblings and I would carry empty jerry cans and walked far distance to the next neighboring town just to get water. The line at the borehole was always long, we waited for hours sometimes.

You could arrive early and still find people waiting, some had even slept there.

People fought for water, not always but often. When water is scarce, people change, even the good people.

Hunger can make people desperate, but thirst does something worse, it makes people helpless, angry and impatient.

I remember one day when two women almost fought physically, they had both been there since down, but then one accused the other of stealing her jerry can. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Water was also rationed at my house, we didn't bathe everyday, sometimes it was one in two days and we only washed clothes and dishes when necessary.

Cooking was different too, some meals requires much water and we made sure to avoid cooking those meals. Drinking water was sacred, we didn't gulp water down like it was surplus, we sipped it.

We got sick regularly, dirty water has a way of reminding you why drinking clean water matters.

We learnt how to survive with little water, we reused water when possible. Our bath water became cleaning water and cleaning water became flushing water.

The drought made everything worse, when rain stopped falling, people started showing different versions of themselves, some became angry and some became selfish. The animals became so thin and the crops died.

The sun was being too hot, like it was punishing us on purpose and the rain refused to fall and people were constantly fighting.

The borehole stopped working completely at some point, no water came out at all and everyone was tired and frustrated.

We didn't know what to do, the few alternatives we had was far away and everyone was thinking the same thing. How do we survive this?

And when the rain finally poured, people came out to bath and dance like they had been waiting their whole lives for that moment, it had been months since the rain fell. It finally felt like before for a while.

The scarcity taught me something I would never forget, it taught me how frail life can be when something so simple becomes rare.

When there is enough water, the towns grow and feel secured. But when water is absent, fear slowly begins to take over and people starts worrying about their health, tomorrow and about surviving.

Water shaped my childhood for better and for worse, and I still remember everything till now.