I did say a few weeks ago that getting water had been a challenging experience. But has getting water from a pump that is right outside of my family’s home made my life miserable? No.

I have been taking bucket baths since arriving in Mengong. I pour water into a bucket that can hold approximately 3 gallons of liquid. My host family often boils the water for me. Has taking a bucket bath deteriorated my quality of life? No. It’s not challenging at all. I just take a cup and dip it into the bucket of water to get water. Then I pour the cup of water over my head. I then shampoo my hair and lather soap on my body. I then get another cup of water and pour it over my head. This step repeats until all the soap is off my body. It’s a very easy task.

This bathing system is actually better for our planet. I use only about a gallon and half of water. I imagine when taking a shower, I use far more water and waste a large amount since I often stand under running water when not washing my body for several minutes.

Having water access directly in one’s home by simply twisting a knob does certainly give us an easier lifestyle but does it make our lifestyle more superior? No. As long as there is access to safe water within a 10 minute walk or less, one can still lead a healthy lifestyle.

From my observation, I find getting water from the water pump has many benefits. There is always a crowd of children helping each other pump water and talking to each other. There will sometimes be adults there too. The water pump is the Facebook of the village. In other words, it’s where they meet their friends and neighbors, socialize, and share everything they want to share within their circle. The water pump forces us to get off the couch and move away from interacting with people through the computer screens. It allows us embrace face to face interaction.

This is where my host family and I get water from a pump.

The water pump is also our exercise machine. It takes a lot of muscle power to pump out water and carry buckets of water back to the house. Children in Mengong have the muscles on their arms that look like one has done a lot of weight lifting. I have never seen children in the US with big muscles on their arms.

I would like to ask those who ask me or others if we’re going to have water access directly in the home when living in a developing country and/or express hope for direct water access to rethink your concerns and realize that challenges come with many benefits.

I want to note that I am not asking to no longer show concern for those who have to walk very far to get and/or have no access to safe water. Water sanitation and hygiene continues to be a serious problem in Cameroon as many still do have to fetch water from a stream or lake which are often filled with bacterias and worms. Unsafe water can lead to water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, the most common illness especially in children under 5, many of whom often die from this issue. We do indeed still have a long way to go in building water pumps or any kind of facility to provide access to safe water to millions of people in not only Cameroon but also in many other countries around the world.