When we reach for a bottle of clean water we know it’s going to taste . . . or not taste. The best water has no taste and we always notice when it does. Water out of tap often has an unpleasant metal taste. When it does, we avoid it!
But, imagine drinking dirty water your whole life as most do in developing countries. It’s bad for you, yet you don’t know it. There are millions of organisms swimming around in it determined to make you sick. But you don’t know it, and you have grown accustomed to the gritty and foul-smelling taste.
We think clean water would be immediately welcomed and gulped down from the first sight. But, unfortunately, many times, this is not the case.
In the village of Namayumba, Rwanda, stands a clean water well. Initially, the villagers would not drink from it. Instead, they walked an additional 300 yards to a filthy water source. The reason? They didn’t like the salty taste of the clean water.
A boy named Habimana stood at another clean water well in Rwanda. However, instead of getting a drink there, he walked down to a dirty pond. When someone tried to tell him that the water was not good, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s okay.” He didn’t understand the difference.
What is important is that we always understand the difference. That means looking from the other person’s perspective . . . whether it is your neighbor next door, or half a world away.
Through this understanding we know it is vital to provide education after a well is installed. This will teach the locals to use the well and avoid the dirty water. And this understanding brings us closer to our vision of providing 1 million people clean water.