To the people in California who is experiencing a major water crisis, you have my deepest sympathies.

For the past three and a half weeks, I had no running water. My life turned into like those of majority of Peace Corps Volunteers in Cameroon. I’m one of the small number of volunteers who has indoor plumbing. I always took for granted for having the ability to flush a toilet, wash the dishes with ease directly under a faucet, and take a quick cold shower. Most volunteers have to walk at least a couple meters to a water pump or well to fetch water and carry big buckets of water to their homes. Because buckets of water can be so heavy, some volunteers have their neighbors assist them in carrying the water.

Something happened to the public water system as many other people in Bamenda did not have any running water too. I had a huge tank of water in my apartment, but it lasted me only five days. After five days, I had to talk to my landlord and landlady to find out how I could get more water. Fortunately, they were so wonderful. They brought big buckets of water to me every other day from a well that was several meters away from my apartment. I don’t know what I would have done without their generosity. I offered them watermelons a couple times to thank them. I’m going to be inviting them over for dinner one night next week so that they would really know how much I appreciated their assistance.

Because I had limited water, I had to really ration my use of water. I had to reduce the amount of water I used for bucket bath. I had to try to go for as long as I could without cleaning my floors. I used hand sanitizers and wipes to wash my hands a lot more frequently. The water that was used to clean the dishes was used to flush the toilet. In other words, I washed the dishes in a bucket. Then, I poured that same bucket of dirty water into the toilet to flush everything.

Since the water finally came back a few days ago, I’ve been marveling by how much easier it is to wash dishes in the sink with water running through the faucet. I was able to get the dishes cleaned much faster than washing them in a bucket. It was a moment that made me realize that washing the dishes in the sink is just as easy as putting the dishes in the dish washer.