NCA has just conducted its annual Lenten Campaign, collecting money for its work through a door-to-door collection with more than 40,000 young and older Norwegians knocking on doors. This year the main focus was water. "Water is life" is a known slogan, and nobody can deny its justification. NCA is doing a lot around the world to assist people and communities in accessing clean water.
We have all the lively stories about the importance of water. Malawi has this year, and last year, suffered from too much water (floods), too little water (drought) and untimely and erratic water. This year erratic rains have led to floods, but at the same time acceptable expected harvest in the northern and central parts of the country. Erratic and too little rains have led to serious failures of the crops in the southern region. The rain patterns these two consecutive years leads to food shortages that will leave more than 3 million people in need of food assistance.
More closely to our home in are 12 in Lilongwe, water shortages have led to restrictions of water in some outlaying areas. Across from the main road behind our wall there are villages that over the last weeks have suffered from water shortages.
One day Birgit was driving in the neighbourhood, She met a group of young people with empty water containers. They seemed to look for somewhere to fetch water. As she a bit later returned home, she was slightly surprised to find the group inside our compound. They were busy filling their containers from the water tap that is used to water the plants in our garden. One of our guards apparently knew someone in the group, and had allowed them to enter in search of the cherished fluid.
In itself this was not a story to share on my blog. There was, however another twist to the story. Only a few meters away from the water tap, our swimming pool was rehabilitated. There had been a leakage, and repair was in progress. As I write this small story, the pool is back in operation, and we had our first swim yesterday.
What a contrast! The group, including the small kid with the metal tin on her head had walked quite a distance to fetch lifesaving litres of water. At the same time we were waiting for the swimming pool to be filled with hundreds of litres to satisfy our pleasure!
We did not build the swimming pool, but we enjoy it very much on hot days. Having a swimming pool is obviously a luxury. At the same time girls and boys and women are walking long distances to fetch the water needed for drinking, cooking, washing, watering chicken, nurturing vegetable gardens...
We are part and parcel of existential contrasts - and with the golden spoon in our mouth!
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