4 days.

February 12th (part two)

For four days there was no running water in either my house or the surrounding area. On Friday afternoon Lindsay left for Isongole. I woke up early Saturday to prepare breakfast to find the water running as normal. After eating, I went to clean my dishes and the water wouldn’t turn on. This happened a few times during the dry season but I was baffled about it happening in the wet season. I didn’t think much of it and just left the dishes for later. I went to school and proctored a mock exam for my form four students then returned home to wash the dishes and my clothes…still no water. This continued into Sunday. Luckily, I filled a trash can with water back in November when the outages happened once a week and had enough water to last me through the weekend. By Sunday night I started to worry. Even though I had the bucket, my level of sanitation inevitably dwindles considerably without proper running water to clean my hands or dishes.

On Monday, I planned to find a student to fetch me water but things took a turn for the worse. There was supposed to be some Muslim holiday so I woke up late not expecting to have class. When the primary school bell rang I got out of bed and quickly prepared for school. Lindsay was still in Isongole so I went to school alone ready for the day. The day started with an upset stomach which scared me a little. Then the cell phone reception was out which made me even more worried. Finally, the water had still not returned. I was a little on the distraught side. For the first time since I’ve arrived in Tanzania I felt completely trapped in Kafule and wanted to leave. I was very tense all day waiting for something to work out for me. When Lindsay returned late that afternoon I explained what was going on and she quickly took charge and found some students to find us water. After providing some financial support, they were only too eager to assist.

On Tuesday, I returned from church in a foul mood. (This will be explained in part three) After sitting around reading I heard the trickle of water. I jumped out of my chair in happiness. The water returned. My foul mood dissolved and the rest of the week seemed so much brighter.

Four days.

What else happened this past week? Read about it in part three!

Love,

Gretchen