From bucket showers to cooking in the dark with a headlight, have you ever thought about how blessed we are to live in a place where we don’t have to think twice about the amount of water we use? Or about how you’re going to make breakfast for yourself in the middle of a city wide power outage?
In Jeffrey’s Bay, there’s a water shortage; they haven’t had enough rain, therefore they don’t have enough clean water to use however they please. The people of the town are asked to limit their water usage, and if they go over their allotted amount they’re fined. While cleaning paint brushes under running water, a friend named Sammi reached over and turned off the faucet. She then explained that she fills up a bucket with warm water, and that’s how much she allows for her shower/clean up. That’s when I understood how serious the shortage is. Our host even asks us to keep our showers to 4 minutes or less in order to save water.
As well as a draught, they also have a shortage of electricity. I had no idea that was even a thing, but quickly learned it used to be a normal thing for various regions around South Africa to be without power for a day in order to build up a small supply of energy. My team woke up not sure how our day would go; I walked into the kitchen to see Liesl standing over the gas stove making breakfast with her headlight on-which definitely added a lightness to my otherwise crabby mood.
While I was extremely frustrated at first with the power being out, I really began to realize that this is a reality for these people. There was a time recently where that would happen once a week, but this was my first and possibly only time experiencing it. Who am I to complain? I regularly have had hot water in our house, regularly have been able to use the microwave, regularly been able to cook with a light on, etc. This is a reality for the people of South Africa, and something I’ve never had to really appreciate before.
How many things do we take for granted on a daily basis, things that we don’t even think about? A few things off the top of my head are : an endless supply of water, electricity 24/7, heat or a/c, or stepping out of my bed onto carpeted floors. I’ve only been in South Africa for a couple weeks now, and these are already things I miss about home, and things I’ve found that I have definitely taken for granted before.
So next time you get mad that your shower went cold, or that the power flashed and your TV turned off- think about how blessed and privileged you truly are to have clean, running water and electricity for a full day.
