I was fortunate enough to experience life in Uganda a couple years ago. While I was living there, my landlord shut the water off indefinitely to do repairs on my dilapidated apartment building. So I endured three weeks of a toilet and shower that offered no more than a drop of water a day, which meant only one thing…
I’d have to fetch the water myself … from a pipe… out of the ground. And use a bucket of water for my shower.
It was awkward trying to shower in a bucket, a fact not missed by giggling onlookers. But for me, this was a temporary condition. It was fun and adventurous and the environmentalist inside me was ecstatic to be saving such large amounts of water.
During my stay in Uganda, I was also infected by a virus from drinking unsafe water (I dove into the Nile River, and I subsequently paid the price). I suffered severe stomach problems that completely altered my eating habits. However, I took medication and recovered in a mere three days. And I knew I would be flying home to Chicago soon enough.
And looking back my heart breaks for the young Ugandan children who walk miles each day to fetch water. These kids have to spend hours each day walking for water, hours that they aren’t spending in school. And they don’t have other choices.
And when they drink dirty water…they can’t afford my prescription medicine. In fact, almost 10,000 children under the age of 5 die as a result of a water-related illness, every single day.
For me it was a choice, an adventure. For them, this is a difficult reality.
This is why I used my summer to volunteer for Generosity Water (www.generositywater.org). I want to do whatever is in my power to help everyone have access to clean, safe drinking water. I constantly find the things that cause the greatest struggle, the things most people are afraid to do, are the things worth fighting for and make me feel the most alive. If you believe that clean water should not be a privilege, but a right, be a part of funding a well with me at http://beta.mygenerositywater.org/nisha
