Living Water

Until I went to Africa, I don't think I ever really understood the importance of such a simple thing and one I know I and many others take for granted: water. Water is our lifeblood in so many ways - to bathe, cook, wash clothes, and of course most importantly, to drink. The Bible refers to water as "living water" seven different times in the Old and New Testaments, something significant to me. I did have to look that number up as I am most definitely not a Biblical scholar but throughout our experiences with water in Africa, the phrase living water kept making its way into my head.

On Friday, July 10, instead of running a medical clinic as we had for the past two days we instead were privileged to be a part of two borehole dedication ceremonies at schools near the little town of Mapanza. Our first journey up to Mapanza was also our first trip of what would be quite a few, up a pretty difficult dirt road. It took about three hours for us to get there and when we arrived, the entire local community had turned out for the event. A borehole, for those who are wondering, is basically a well. But not just any well - a borehole is a deep well drilled into the ground that brings fresh and most importantly, clean and safe, water to the surface. These wells are not inexpensive to build - each boreholes costs about $5000 US dollars. This sum is fairly insurmountable for an African community to raise so they are reliant on local governments and organizations like Zoe Ministries for help. But, they are a reliable way to provide clean water to rural communities. Both of these new boreholes were donated by a Methodist church in New Bern and it was quite simply amazing what a big deal these new wells were. We saw many illnesses caused by unsafe water - parasites, worms, all sorts of things - but for me, it wasn't until I was a part of this celebration of water that it was clear what a difference these boreholes will make in these communities.

During each ceremony groups of children and teenagers danced and sang and we listened to numerous speeches by political and religious leaders alike, expounding on the significance of the boreholes to each school community and also occasionally throwing in some politics. The Anglican bishop even made the long trek out to Mapanza for these important events. Each ceremony was capped off by a ribbon cutting and first official pumping of the new water.

This post was originally written the night we returned from Mapanza after being a part of these ceremonies but unfortunately the Internet ate it and we couldn't restore the original posting. My journal helped some in recreating the event but I know I've left out details. However, my feelings about what we saw are still very clear: We take our water for granted. We turn on our faucets or our showers and clean, safe water comes out in abundance. It's something most people in the US don't ever think about unless something goes wrong because clean, safe drinking water is the norm. Watching the people of Mapanza dance, sing and celebrate over water was remarkable, sobering, and an amazing joyous celebration of life itself, because life cannot exist without water.

Erin Berry