Water, an essential part of lives, is something we must learn not to take for granted.
Jamaica has had quite the draught this year. Many families have been without water all across the island for a few months now. In Stony Hill, where we live, we have been lucky enough not to lose water. Up in the rural areas where we work, Mt. Friendship, Tom’s River, King Weston, and Devon Pen, running water is not a luxury people know. Most people have to collect drinking water at a local pipe, and lug it home in big jugs. For other necessities like bathing and washing, they have to “catch rain” or go to a nearby river. But because of the severe draught here, the local pipes don’t have any water “fi drink!” There has been no rain to catch in months. Fires have been spreading in “da bush.”
So what do the people do? How do they survive when they can’t afford the taxi/bus fare to go to the store to buy clean drinking water, never mind the price of the water itself in the store? Well, they wait for the water truck to pay a visit to their area. Word spreads fast from door to door that “da wata truck a come!” Before you know it, adults and children alike are running down the road to try and get a little water. But if the truck drivers request a fee for the water, you better be able to pay it or you’re out of luck! For some areas, like Devon Pen, no water truck makes an appearance.
Makes you thankful for our water system in America, even for the poorest of the poor, huh? I know I definitely am. THANK GOD we got a whole heap of rain for the past two days. Barrels of water have been filled, water tanks are filling, and people are breathing a sigh of relief that for now at least, there is some water on the island.
Jamaica has had quite the draught this year. Many families have been without water all across the island for a few months now. In Stony Hill, where we live, we have been lucky enough not to lose water. Up in the rural areas where we work, Mt. Friendship, Tom’s River, King Weston, and Devon Pen, running water is not a luxury people know. Most people have to collect drinking water at a local pipe, and lug it home in big jugs. For other necessities like bathing and washing, they have to “catch rain” or go to a nearby river. But because of the severe draught here, the local pipes don’t have any water “fi drink!” There has been no rain to catch in months. Fires have been spreading in “da bush.”
So what do the people do? How do they survive when they can’t afford the taxi/bus fare to go to the store to buy clean drinking water, never mind the price of the water itself in the store? Well, they wait for the water truck to pay a visit to their area. Word spreads fast from door to door that “da wata truck a come!” Before you know it, adults and children alike are running down the road to try and get a little water. But if the truck drivers request a fee for the water, you better be able to pay it or you’re out of luck! For some areas, like Devon Pen, no water truck makes an appearance.
Makes you thankful for our water system in America, even for the poorest of the poor, huh? I know I definitely am. THANK GOD we got a whole heap of rain for the past two days. Barrels of water have been filled, water tanks are filling, and people are breathing a sigh of relief that for now at least, there is some water on the island.
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