Sunday, June 28, 2009

Putting it in perspective: Water

I live in a posh apartment in Nairobi.
I mean, we are talking - probably the nicest place I have lived in .... maybe ever.
I'm not really sure how this happened, but I appreciate it, none the less.

However, there have been a couple of problems... first, our electricity stopped working (its now fixed), then our internet wasn't installed (like they promised - fixed now), then hot water stopped working (as in, no water at all would come out of the hot faucets), and then, two nights ago, we lost water all together. As in - we couldn't wash dishes, no showers, and... no flushing toilets. And it was just us - the rest of the building had working water.

So we didn't shower, started rationing drinking water, and ate off of paper towels. And we complained, a lot. And we called James, the go to fix it man, who promised to send over a plumber "some time." So we felt sorry for ourselves for a bit, hauled water in containers up 5 floors of stairs, and continued to complain.

Then one of my flatmates said something to the effect of "you know, all of these people in Kibera do this everyday, only they aren't able to walk downstairs to fill up cans of water."

And I looked around at our uber posh apartment, and then out the window at the people squatting by the side of the road looking for discarded food.

And felt like the most spoiled, ugly brat I have ever known.

P.S. They fixed the water.

4 comments:

Jen said...

understandable. we live with the cards we are dealt....

Kent said...

Hey, you're not ugly and you're not a brat...............

Victor said...

hmmmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

I don't think you should be too> hard on yourself. We all grow with a certain standard...not because we're better or worse than others, but simply because that's what we're used to. It's always great to put things in perspective to allow us to be more thankful for what God's given us, but again, I think it's important to not feel guilty for what God's provided :) just a little more thankful. P.S. I don't think you're a brat.