There is a saying in Africa, “water is life” and I heard it repeatedly while in Malawi. As we drove through the countryside we passed dozens of villages and most of them had no clean water wells. One could tell when we were approaching a village with a well because there was always a crowd gathered around it.
Imagine, if you will, that you live in a town with no clean drinking water. You have to walk a mile or more to find water and often the water you find is muddy and will make you sick with dysentery, diarrhea, or some other water born illness. On top of all that, any water you need for the day you have to carry back with you, whether for drinking, cooking, washing clothes, cleaning dishes or any other needs, enough for you and your family. Tough life, huh? However, that is the case for a majority of Malawians.
When we taught farming to local farmers, I realized most villages had no water to drink with them. We were tilling soil and digging holes…hard, physical labor that made us tired and thirsty, and we were fortunate to have brought water with us, but they had none. I felt ashamed drinking my water with them standing there, sometimes I shared some of it. However, the fact that most of the Malawians perform physical labor all day long, and don’t have enough water to quench their thirst was not lost on me. I really don’t know how they do it, other than the fact that they have no choice.
On the road, we would see women and kids, walking away from the wells with buckets and basins filled with water to take home. The water was heavy and most women balanced it on their heads while having babies strapped to their backs. A tough hike by any means.
Amongst all the issues in Malawi, it seems clear to me that access to clean water ought to be a something we are pushing hard towards! Here in America, in my little spoiled life, I have my own personal saying. It goes, “coffee is life.” Even now, saying that makes me feel convicted. The fact is that coffee is a luxury….water truly is life.
-Compiled by Jeff Jordan, trip Alumni
