The Simplicity of Water

I don't have any new pictures to show today, but I just want to write about a few experiences I have had recently.

The first actually happened a few weeks back, but since I have not yet written it, I thought it would be good to do so. Here in Nigeria potable water is one of the major focuses of everyday life. That statement may seem pretty obvious; of course drinkable water is something we all need to have. The interesting thing in Nigeria is what people have to go through to get it. Due to the generally poor infrastructure available in Lagos, water is not something that people here can take for granted. Drinking water is purchased at every level of Nigerian society. One of the most common delivery methods you is 1 liter plastic pouches of water. These are just a sealed plastic bag filled with drinkable water, and the standard cost for a bag is 5 Naira about 4 cents, but when you consider that people on the street tend to live on less than a dollar a day this is a fairly significant cost. I will try to get me driver to buy a couple of these so I can take a picture later. There is no spout on the bag, you just chew of a corner and drink.

Since clean water is such a problem, people will do some interesting things to provide water for their needs. Many companies have their own water treatment facilities, in this environment it is a necessity. If a facility does not have the room for the treatment equipment, they can have water delivered. One of the companies here that has several locations has a main water treatment facility and they truck water to their other offices. They use tanker trucks for this purpose, and since they are just hauling water, most of them don't worry too much about leaks. One day several weeks ago I saw a young boy who could not have been more than 6 years old, crawling under one of these tankers to fill up a bucket of water from the leaking tank. I found this to be a very hard thing to digest. Just to watch what people here have to do to get the basics is pretty staggering.

I had another incident this week that fit into this same category and I honestly found myself choking back tears. There is a bridge that I pass under everyday on my way to work and on my way home; there are always people who live under or near the bridge begging from the cars that pass. Normally you just look away (I know this sounds heartless, but it is necessary) but sometimes you see things that are very difficult to ignore. While we were stuck in traffic near the bridge a young girl, no older than 10, with a baby strapped to her back was begging at my window. It was raining and I was doing my best to focus my attention elsewhere. As she walked away she swiped her hand down the hood of my car and then drank the water from her hand. This was one of the hardest moments that I have had related to beggars since I came to Lagos. The hardest moment is a story I will save for another time. When I see what people here, especially children, have to go through just to get through a day it is very eye opening. This is life in a developing country.