Whenever I think of a faucet and how easy it is to get water in civilized society, it reminds me of my days in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (Galapagos Islands). We didn’t have running water, so we did not need faucets. In the USA and the Western world, where the mere need for water is as easy as opening your faucet, filling a glass, and drinking from it, people do not appreciate how hard it is to live in a third-world country. Let me tell you how hard it is to get just a glass of water to drink.
I woke up every morning and walked for about a mile into town with two buckets in my hands. In the middle of town, there was a faucet with a pump, and we pumped water into the buckets from a pump in the town square, filled them up, put them into a harness, and carried the water on our shoulders back home.
There always was enough water for cooking, cleaning, baths, etc. Everyone in town did this, so we had to wait our turn to fill the buckets with water. This job was done every morning before school, at lunchtime while on lunch break, and finally after school in preparation for dinner and after-dinner activities.
So, next time you have a glass of water, think about the 90% of people who need to fetch water from the local well before they have water to drink, wash clothes, take a bath, flush the toilet, etc. Perhaps it would be good for you to donate to a worthy cause that is doing good things to bring water to the rest of the world.
What are you doing to change the world today??