Water, water

Water, water everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink.
Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.

This morning I recalled these verses from a poem I learned as a child - Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

It’s not exactly true that there’s water everywhere in Santa Rosa, but the local situation must have pulled this quote from the recesses of my memory.

Until about a week ago it had rained everyday for more than two weeks. The effects throughout the country have been disastrous – 35 or more dead, thousands left homeless, crops lost. In this are there have been about 80 families who lost their homes and hundreds had to leave their villagers because of the dangers.

The people have responded very generously, bringing food and clothing for those who are now staying in shelters. I was moved about a week ago when I saw all that the people in the poor parish of Dulce Nombre had brought to send to the victims.

This past week it has been sunny most days without rain which has provided a breather for those affected by the torrential rains.

But despite all the rain, we haven’t had water delivery for two weeks here in Santa Rosa.

In Santa Rosa most houses have tanks for water on their roofs. Water flows in neighborhoods about two or three times a week, enough usually to fill up the tanks. But my neighborhood hasn’t had water for two weeks. The tank in my house ran out last week, but I had water in the pila, the water basin but it’s almost out.

So I have been saving water from washing myself and clothes to flush the toilet and hoping that the water will soon arrive. Last week a city water truck delivered water up the street but it stopped delivery about 8 houses up and hasn’t returned, though they said they’d be back.

This afternoon, a little is coming but I don’t know if it will be enough. If enough water doesn’t arrive soon, I may have to try to buy some water which will cost about 250 lempiras ($13.20)for a small tanker of water.

Yet I do have water to drink, since I buy purified water for 16 lempiras (85¢) for a large container. Many people don’t trust the purity of the water supply enough to drink.

At least some of the water for Santa Rosa comes from a river, Rio Higuito. As a result of the rains and the landslides the contraption used to extract the water from the river was filled with sediment (mud and sand) about 3 meters (10 feet) deep. It had to be dug out by hand! According to the mayor it was finished last Thursday or so and he hoped that water would arrive soon in the neighborhoods of Santa Rosa.

All this has helped remind me of the importance of water. I take it for granted, even when visiting the rural villages in the parish of Dulce Nombre, since most of them have water, though I’m not sure of the water quality.

But there are many places in Honduras where the people have to carry water from springs or streams.

Water – so significant for life – but so precarious a gift. Above all, it must be considered, at Catholic Social Teaching notes, a public good, and a right of all peoples. (Confer The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, ¶485). But, as with so much here and throughout the world, water often arrives last at the poor.

To conclude, I want to share these paragraphs on “A ‘culture of water’” from the 2006 document, Water, an Essential Element for Life, prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace:

Water is central to life. However all too often water is not perceived as the luxury it really is, but is paradoxically wasted. This action of wasting water is morally unsustainable. Citizens in some countries are used to taking advantage of a privileged situation without thinking of the consequences of their wasting water on the lives of their brothers and sisters in the rest of the world. In other situations, water is lost or wasted due to an infrastructure that is old, badly or improperly constructed or inadequately maintained.

There is an urgent need to regain a "culture of water," to educate society to a new attitude toward water. In many ways our esteem for water has fallen. Traditionally water was revered and protected, even celebrated. Today it runs the risk of becoming a mere consumer product. In the face of waste, water cannot be treated as a mere product of consumption among others since it has an inestimable and irreplaceable value. Cultural traditions and societal values determine how people perceive and manage water. Using solely pricing mechanisms as a response to the wasting of water will not foster a culture of water and ignores the factor of the poor who also need water to live.

It is necessary to recall that all human beings are united by a common origin and the same supreme destiny. Water must therefore be considered a public good, which all citizens should enjoy, but within the context of the duties, rights and responsibilities which accrue to each person.