Water

The water has been off in my village since Monday. Water has been a problem this year in the Giyani area; in town, the water is often off several days a week, and recently it has been off for about two weeks straight. Usually it is more reliable in my village, where it only goes off occasionally, and then usually only for one or two days, but right now it's the height of the dry season. The water was off for about a week around this time last year, too. This year is even drier, since during the rainy season the rain started late and wasn't as plentiful as usual when it did at last begin; our mango trees consequently produced barely any fruit, and the dam near Thomo is nearly dry.

Even though the pipes that bring water have been dry, there is still water available to me. Because this happens occasionally, my host family (and most people who live here) are prepared and keep several barrels and buckets full of water to use as a back up source. We're more frugal when the water's off, of course, which means forgoing laundry and less bathing. Fortunately I did my enormous backlog of laundry just a couple days before the water went off, so I'm okay on that front, though my hair really needs to be washed. After a week our water supplies are pretty depleted, but we refilled them yesterday thanks to a neighbor with a car who took all of our barrels somewhere where the water was working; still, we're hoping that the water comes back on shortly...and that it's a rainier season this year.