Since there is no running water, I don't have amenities such as a toilet, sink, dishwasher or shower. I use a latrine (outhouse/outdoor toilet) in my yard, and I have a small basin in which to wash my hands and clean my dishes. I am only able to take baths, which is sadly not my favorite activity because it takes a long time to collect enough water to fill my tub, and even longer to boil it so that the water becomes warm.
The biggest need in our community is water access. Our community's only well is located at my school. It is old and only goes 40 meters down into the ground. At the end of July, it dried up. These past few months have been extremely difficult for the community. Women and girls are now forced to walk more than a mile one way to visit the nearest well, which takes away from time they could have spent focusing on other activities. The water is either carried in a bucket on a woman's head, or it is strapped to the sides of a donkey. Donkeys are incredibly important in Africa because they are able to carry heavy loads, and water weighs a lot! There was recently a study conducted that showed that if a family has access to a donkey, the children in that family become two times more likely to attend and graduate from high school than ones in a family without a donkey.
The community has a dire need for water because at the time of its construction, the water well only went 40 meters deep. The current industry standard is 80 meters, which helps to keep the water tables at a high level even in the drought season. Climate change has also harmed Lesotho because the drought season has become even longer.
