Kenya: Getting Real

Carrying water is a luxury. Just think about that for a moment.

At the market we stopped at before arriving here, I was offered anything in this man's shop in exchange for my water bottle. I told him I was here for many weeks and needed it, but he said to come back to his shop on my way home and we would barter. This was my first conversation with any Kenyan natives, and though I found it interesting that he'd noticed my water bottle given our purpose here, I didn't really think about it more than the excitement of choosing anything in his cool shop and putting my negotiation skills to work.

Since arriving, I have been asked for a drink from my water bottle by many small children. They yell at us through the fence protecting us from various wildlife and follow us around yelling "Mwanafunzi!" (Student) and "Mzungu!" (White person) or ask for, in perfect English, "Sweet! Sweet!" and our watches and pretty much anything else that we have and take for granted. But the only thing I have been asked for by these tiny, adorable wide-eyed children is a drink of water or my water bottle. And it's heartbreaking to say no.

The idea that carrying water is a luxury is entirely new. People everywhere in Boston and here have side pockets in their backpacks specifically for carrying a water bottle or insulated mug for coffee or tea or anything else they want. We are concerned with them fitting in such sidepockets or the cupholders in our cars or if the plastic contains BPA or even if they are the color that we wanted.

Here, they have backpacks but I haven't seen anyone with a water bottle. It's one of the many blatant signs that we're not from around here.

This could be for any number of reasons - none are for sale, none are available to the merchants, or there isn't really a clean source of water worth carrying with you... or something else entirely. I don't really know. What I do know is this: when I'm thirsty after walking around in this sun for a few hours, my water bottle is one of my favorite things.

Even after having my eyes opened to the fact that carrying water is a luxury, I don't think I will ever fully understand how fortunate I am to have this luxury, mostly since it's likely that I'll continue to be able to access and carry clean water. But I think I understand, maybe just a little bit, more how important this work is.