"We know all too well that what we are doing is
nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
But if that drop were not there,
the ocean would be missing something."
-Mother Teresa
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| The Pacific Ocean at La Punta, Peru |
This morning, I came home from Mass to find that once again the faucet in my kitchen had been left running. Only ever so slightly, but still, it was running. After shutting off the faucet, I asked about who left the water running. Finally, someone said that the faucet was on for the cat. Apparently, cats like to play in the water. But I looked around and saw not a single cat in the vicinity of the kitchen. I also happened to look on the kitchen floor to see, not one, but four (one for each cat or dog) water bowls. I shook my head. Leave it to us, those living in such abundant luxury, to make sure each of our animals had a water bowl. There's a little bit of irony here.
Less than a week ago, I was getting my drinking water from a filtered water cooler in the kitchenette. It was room temperature but it was water. Everything we made with water, had to be done with the water in the cooler. So, if we wanted to wash our fruit off, we had to use the cooler. If we wanted to make coffee, we had to use the cooler. And if we wanted to make ice, we had to do it using the cooler water. Why? Well, Peru doesn't have the best water supply, even coming out of the sink. You know how people say, "don't drink the water?" Well, it's true in Peru. Everywhere we turned, the Sisters were making sure we were only drinking the filtered water. Quite a difference then what I have been experiencing at home these past few days.
On one of the days, we traveled to Montenegro. This place is my absolute favorite because here, life is simple and because it is simple, it is beautiful. The way there I was thinking if I would be able to live like most of the people in Montenegro. You see, from the school patio you can see mountains upon mountains with beautifully colored huts also known as family homes. Up the mountains run pairs of vibrant green steps. In these homes there is usually no electricity, in some homes, no ways to lock the doors, no way to heat the home or keep it cool, and no refrigeration. But above all, there is no running water. Sister explained it to us like this: some homes have hoses hooked up to their houses that are connected to the water basin on the mountain. Once a week, for five minutes, the water turns on and the family has to fill all the containers they can in those five minutes. Once the water shuts off, they have their water supply for the week. That's right, for the week.
After hearing this, I decided, okay, maybe I could do that. But then I thought, I, myself, one person, could do that. I wouldn't need that much water for the week. But what about the families who have seven kids and then maybe grandkids who live in their little homes, slightly larger than my bedroom? Could they do it? I guess they could because every day those families send their kids looking immaculate to school. Yet, they only have five minutes of running water every week. On top of not having 24/7 access to water, they also live in the desert.
Now, imagine, after having visited Montenegro a few times, both this trip and last year's trip, what I was thinking when we all came home to find that one of the eight bathrooms on the second floor of the convent had flooded. We had been out on the town all day and during the week we had had some issues with the toilets not flushing all the way or by running all night long. However, not one of us thought anything of the sounds of running water. That sound of running water turned into much more though. When we got home, the first thing I was headed to do was go use the bathroom. However, as I ran down the hallway, suddenly, I was standing in two inches of water. Try to picture the set up: a hallway set up a step, on the left two bathrooms, ahead another bathroom and to the right, a bathroom and a cleaning closet. All four of those bathrooms and the closet were sitting in two inches of water and by the time I happened upon the natural disaster, the water was spilling out over the step and into the hallway; like a mini waterfall. Yes, the sound of running water had turned into literal running water all over the place. Right away, I dashed down the stairs to get a nun, or two, or three and then went back upstairs.
As we all pulled together to clean up the small natural disaster, we joked about how we had the biblical flood in the biblical desert. We each found our spot doing something to help the cause, whether it was laying down newspaper (note to self: newspaper is an incredibly nunny and smart way to sop up water), mopping water from various rooms or collecting everything in trashbags and then getting rid of those trashbags. Our shoes were soaked and some of us even ventured further to just do the clean up in flip flops or barefeet. Don't worry, it was just clean water. And that's when it hit me. It was just clean, unused water that we could no longer use...gone.
Suddenly, I wondered how many "five minutes" we had just used up. I wondered how many baths or showers we had just lost. I wondered how many glasses of water we could have drank. I wondered a lot about the amount of water we had just accidentally wasted. Of course, there really wasn't anything we could have done with the water, to be honest, other than sop it up with newspapers and our socks. But it was an experience, for sure; a thought-provoking one at that.
Water has always been important to me. I have always loved being by the river or the ocean, so in that sense, water is just overpowering for me. However, water gained a bit more importance in my life post-Jamaica service trip. That was the first time I ever had the experience of not being able to drink the water. It was the first time I began to really appreciate my shower. Since then, showers last maybe ten minutes, but the good news is, they can be done in five. Of course, I also began to appreciate ice, cold water, with ice cubes. But there's never a moment where I don't let the ice cubes melt so I can drink that water, too. As for letting the water run while doing dishes, well, I try, I try really hard.
Water is something we so often take for granted. We can easily swim in our pools filled with water and if there's too much splashing, we can easily grab the hose and fill it back up. We can easily turn on the faucet for some nice, cold water and drink it, adding ice if we please. We can take showers as long as we want because we don't have five minutes a week to run water. We don't have to hold our water in various containers and pray we make it til the next five minutes. We can complain about not having umbrellas for the rainstorm and stepping in puddles. We can do a lot of things, because we are blessed with water. So, this summer, while we are out enjoying cooling off by a big bottle of water or a jump in the pool, let's remember that it's a privilege not a necessity that we have these things. And that there are plenty of people in this world who are thirsty and dirty tonight because running water is not even a concept for them to understand. Thank God for your blessings of running water and say a prayer for those who have no water.
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