Within an hour of landing in Kigali, I learned there was a
water restriction because this dry season has been so incredibly dry. Because
of the shortage, we only get water late at night or very early in the morning.
I’m not going to lie, the overindulged American in me was
sorely disappointed that I wasn’t going to get a shower after more than 24
hours of travel. I felt absolutely disgusting from the “travel grime,” and I so
desperately wanted to just wash it off. I freshened up as best I could and set
off with the group for some lunch, figuring I’d shower the next day. I slept
too late though and missed my window of opportunity to shower again…definitely
a bit discouraging.
As I used the giant bucket of water collected the day before
to bathe though, I was quickly reminded of how blessed I was to have any clean
water at all, let alone a whole bucket of it. It took a few weeks last year,
but I came to realize that these things I think are necessities – a strong cup
of coffee, a hot shower, running water – are truly just luxuries. It’s so easy
to take for granted the amount of clean, running water we have access to every
minute of every day at home in the U.S., and whenever I’m here I’m overwhelmed
by the extravagance of it and how much we truly waste. And with this check in
perspective, I had never been happier to simply have soap and clean water to
bathe with.
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