Water

Rashidi, far right, and the boys collect water. A washer woman can be seen in the distance further right

Askari: Swahili word meaning "guard" or "soldier"

Rashidi and the neighborhood boys used colorful plastic buckets to collect the brown murky water that had accumulated in shallow puddles along the stream. They dumped the contents of their buckets into a black plastic tank behind a waiting tractor. Rashidi's payment to the boys for their help in loading the water tank is a ride on the tractor back to the house. Nearby, a woman was doing her laundry while an older man was shoveling sand to create yet another puddle in which water could accumulate. This water is the artery of this small village. Now is the wet season when water is plentiful and water can be carried away by the bucketful. During the dry season, holes need to be dug underground to access this water and askari are used to protect this water from pillagers. If you submerge your hands about 6 inches deep, you can't see your hands under this water. This is what the locals use for washing and drinking. Rashidi is part of our house staff collects water this way 2-3 times a day for our washing and watering the garden.

Funny sidenote:  I'm under my tree uploading this post and as usual I have a small crowd of children looking over my shoulder while they take a break from herding cows.  I show the kids the picture I uploaded for this post and turns out one of the kids is in this photo!  LOL I just met him.  He's the one on the far left and his name is Musa.  Cute.