Clap around your water tap

Do you rejoice around your water tap at home? You may ask me, which one? Because you have one in the kitchen, two in the bathroom, one in the toilet, one in the compound … Sometimes, the number of taps exceeds the number of people leaving in the house. What a blessing!

I was writing a success story on WASH interventions in Mali when I came across this picture. I looked at it, once, twice and the third time I saw women, elderly women who have “seen it all” but yet are clapping, dancing, celebrating around a water tap.

I stopped writing my story and started counting the number of taps I have at home and how many times I realized how blessed I am to have them. I can’t recall having stopped once in front of a tap and clapped one day!

Things we take for granted are many and I felt guilty about that. The women on the pictures are members of a community of 360 inhabitants where World Vision constructed 2 water points. The only water source they had used during their entire life was the traditional wells with unclean water. I could therefore understand and share their joy on this picture. This water point means a lot for them. One community member said that World Vision brought them Life through the water system. And yet, we are talking about one tap for 150 inhabitants! 

Such moment brings a bright light in my career and my personal life. I am proud to work to bring a difference in the life of those who need it most. I am proud to come across such picture and stop working for 15 minutes and instead write how I feel about this because it has made me realized how grateful I should be. I am happy to know that as a Christian I feel compassion for people I didn’t know a minute ago and that they joy becomes my joy simply because I am human oriented. I am happy that during those 15 minutes I could put my feeling on a paper, share it with you and ask you: What did you take for granted today?