This is also Africa

This is also Africa. This is the view out the door of one of my classrooms. Isn't it beautiful? One day I will catch a person framed inside the doorway carrying something on their head. Everyone - men, women, and children - does that here. The day I discovered this view, I watched a woman carrying a load of tree branches on her head past the doorway. Lots of people carry water around campus; I always imagine the sloshing around makes it really hard to do. One of my first days here, I was taking a walk and had been following a young woman with a bucket of water on her head. Fifteen minutes into her journey from the well, she stumbled in a gutter and dropped the bucket. I felt terrible for her. That is the only time though I have seen anyone drop anything. I also really admire the woman who carries the several dozen raw eggs on her head.

Our water has been off for three days and things are getting dire. I have two large plastic trash containers in my house with reserves of water that are just about empty. Coincidentally, I was teaching last week about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. At the base of Maslow's pyramid are Physiological Needs, including food, water, and shelter. Maslow theorized that once needs are met, they are forgotten, and until they are met they are all that occupy your time and thoughts. I have to agree with his first supposition. At home, I know that when I turn on a tap, water will come out - and it will be hot when I want hot water. Here, I am worried about when the water will go out next, restocking my reserves when the water is running, what I will do when I run out of reserves (never mind laundry and bathing - how will I flush the toilet?). It is something I took for granted in the States, as Maslow theorized, because the need was met, I never thought about it. Here I do manage to think of other things, but every time I open the reserve container and scrape bottom getting some water to wash my hands, I worry.