"Water is life" by MSIH first year blogger Wentiirim Annankra


Us...
this morning

Today was our last lazy Friday before actual classes resume; I was enjoying my morning reading when my roommate knocked on my door. “Wentii, do you have any idea what happened to the shower? It doesn’t turn off when I want  it to...” She asked. Oops, I came out to check on the bathroom -true, it wasn’t turning off and the water was just flowing. I tried all I could, but it wasn’t working. I retorted to check on YouTube à  how to fix a Miseno shower faucet. Thankfully, I didn’t have to look for too long. My roommate quickly got in touch with our landlord. In fact, I think we have the best landlord any medical student could ask for in Israel. He speaks English, responds very quickly to our messages even though he is a doctor at Soroka, and always sends for a plumber and pays for any repairs needed in the house.

“Sure, call the plumber and turn off the main water supply in the corridor…” He responded. I looked for the main supply and turned it off.

And the plumber was en route!!!

 Grateful, that at least we were not wasting water, we quickly realized that we had no water flowing through our kitchen tap, but we were trying to cook something for lunch and wash some dishes. So, we turned the main water supply on again, fetched some water in a bucket and some big bowls and then turned off the supply. As we fetched water from a bowl to wash dishes, my roommate and I reminisced how this reminded us so much of home. I grew up in Ghana, West Africa until I had to go to college in Michigan, and my roommate, though she was born in Korea, grew up in India until she also had to go to college in Michigan.  Michigan..?? Yeah, we both went to the same college 😊

Growing up in developing countries, we have had our fair share of water problems.  I know that for most people in developed countries, it is hard to imagine a day when water is not flowing through the faucets. But for many in developing countries, having no water flowing through your faucets could be normal for weeks at a time. She shared how sometimes in India, the water would not flow for weeks and then the entire community will form a long line (or queue) with jerry cans and buckets as the Indian government sends a big water tanker (a big truck with a water tank attached) to fill up the empty jerry cans and buckets. Do you know what a jerry can looks like? You can do a quick google search and see how it looks like.

I also had a similar experience in Ghana sometimes. When I was lot younger, about 11 years ago, there was a serious water shortage in Ghana. It was hard to get access to a water tanker sometimes, so my siblings and I trekked about 15 minutes to a botanical garden near my home. (15 minutes is actually small, considering the time some people in villages trek for water). The gardeners had built open water storage (built from cement bricks) that collected rainwater and water from a tap. However, because some of these were under trees, they had flowers, bird poop and all sort of things floating in them. But, we needed water so we fetched some into our buckets -as much as our little limbs could carry. Some of us balanced the buckets on our heads, or just carried it with one arm leaning the opposite way to maintain stability while we walked. Then when we came home, we sieved the with a white cloth – after filtering at least there would be nothing floating in the water but it could look a little bit yellow. :/ Sometimes we would add a few drops of disinfectant and use that water to bathe. The water we drank and cooked with, we bought it.  (This picture was taken by my brother, a documentary photographer, while on one of his assignments in a village. For more pictures, you can check www.apagstudios.com)

Thankfully, years later the water flow in some part of Ghana was improved, but there were weeks when no water flowed in the taps, so my family bought a big polytank (water tank) to store water when the water flowed, and whenever the water stopped flowing, we used an electric pump to propel water to our faucets. We never had to go back to the garden to fetch that water anymore. Nevertheless, I realize how fortunate and blessed I am to have this water pump in my home. Several people in many developing countries including Ghana, still have water problems.

So that was a little bit of Global health 101 there. We won’t forget where we came from, and we are constantly reminded that it is a luxury or blessing to have water flowing through our faucets. Our desire to return to developing nations and work with communities to make life better for the multitude led us to MSIH. So hopefully, our time here in the next three years will equip us well to be capable doctors wherever we find ourselves. Our past and history continue to shape our present and will define our future.

#waterislife   #don’t take water for granted

Also, our shower is fixed now 😊.

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