Utilities

Before we arrived, Lauren warned us that power and water were luxuries and that they come and go at will. Her water tank has a leak and the repairmen have yet to fix it. Lauren gets water in two Jimmy jugs from some magic spout I have yet to see. We’ve not had running water since we arrived and have the luxury of bathing from a plastic basin and flushing the real toilet only when we’ve used enough basin water to fill the tank. I can bathe, including washing my hair, with just one pitcher of water and I don’t even think I smell too bad when I’m done.

Water heaters are a rarity in Uganda as well and we’re told the water is Colorado cold when straight from the tap. Luckily our Jimmy cans are room temperature (about 80 degrees). The water in Uganda is not potable so all drinking water, food preparation water, tooth brushing water, and face cleaning water is bottled.