Zambia’s Minister of Gender Professor Luo graciously sat down to breakfast with us where she explained what access to clean water and other health measures means for women and girls in her country. She told us about the complexity of changing entrenched cultural beliefs about roles. For instance, women and girls are the primary carriers of water in Zambia. Changing that standard will take at least one generation.
We would see first-hand how water is a women’s issue as we made our way to Kapuka Village, the site of our first well dedication. Women dressed in bright blues, oranges and yellows surrounded us, singing and dancing. They led us to the old water reservoir which was little more than a four foot deep hole filled with stagnant water and larvae. Men in the village waxed poetic about the importance of clean water as the women hung to the back. When it was time to demonstrate how the water used to be collected, the roles immediately reversed, with women swinging into action and men blending into the background.
The women spoke, almost professorially, of the disease that dirty water carried—diarrhea, guinea worm, parasites.
Families then led us to their homes giving us a glimpse of the terrain they covered walking to fetch water as many as ten times a day. Norah and Felix proudly displayed the five sanitation and hygiene points they were required to install before World Vision drilled a borehole for clean water.
We toured the latrine, the tippy tap hand washing station, the rubbish pit, the enclosed shower and the elevated dish drying rack—the combination of which is necessary to keeping families healthy. Their home was immaculate leaving many of us to comment that we were taking notes!
The day would unfold with two very special dedications of new wells. The well in Kapuka, a gift from Robin McInnis and her husband Jim, shared with her daughters Amanda and Jessica.
The well in Chisengo, a generous offering from Carol Petren, her husband Floyd, her sister Linda and husband Chris. One couldn’t help but notice the outpouring of gratitude from the women in both villages. It was their lives that would be most affected as the new water source meant less time spent fetching water and assurance that the water was safe for their families.
Water flowed from the new spigots like glistening diamonds exposed to the sun. We looked on as the villagers cupped their hands and clapped in the traditional manner of showing gratitude. As we were joyfully enveloped by the community, we saw the people and especially the women and girls for what they truly have—the greatest untapped potential on this continent.
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