Daily Usage

by John Bidwell, Segou, Mali

I was very conscious of my water consumption in Mali. It was a quarter-mile hike to the nearest pump; that can be a long way to carry two sloshing buckets while flies are trying to investigate your nose and ears! Regardless of the source, I filtered the water through a cloth and treated it with bleach to make sure it was safe to drink. I was very careful about how much I used when cleaning. My water usage was pretty much the same as that of the other villagers. The differences were that I was more rigid about treating my water, and my bathing area was made of concrete rather than mud bricks.