As a group of children walks past our home with their respective kid-sized buckets (some on their tiny heads!), we are reminded that it is about time for us to head to the spring to get some drinking water to go with dinner tonight. Let’s head out before the sun sets!
Robinson, the photogenic grandson of my host family, shows me the family’s arsenal of water storage devices- clay pots, a metal drum, various plastic and metal buckets and two Q Drums.
After he empties the two-day-old water from the Q Drum to make room for fresh, cold water, Robinson, Dog and I set off for the nearby spring. On our way, we bump into two ladies with the ubiquitous yellow 20L buckets, who are also on their way to the spring. It is rush hour!
It turns out our neighbour, Roselita, is already there filling her 20L bucket. She very kindly helps us fill our Q Drum - first we let the spring fill half of the Q Drum, then we move it out of the spring and onto the path before we fill it with water from Roselita’s bucket. It turns out that the Q Drum, once filled to its 50L capacity, is rather heavy to lift. We all thank Roselita profusely on behalf of Robinson’s back!
After a couple of failed attempts by yours truly, Robinson flips the heavy Q Drum by simultaneously holding one side of the Q Drum down with his foot and pulling the other side with the rope in a swift motion. Fifteen minutes have already elapsed since we left home. We quickly bid Roselita goodbye and start heading home. As there are a few uphill bits in our trek, the journey home with our heavy Q Drum is going to take a little bit longer than the outbound one.
We are just in time to catch the beautiful sunset on our way home. While pulling the Q Drum is less strenuous than bearing the weight on one’s head, all the flipping, manoeuvring and pulling the Q Drum uphill is a small workout in itself! Robinson rightfully rewards himself with a glass of refreshing cold water.
PS Why limit ourselves to just water? During my interviews, I have come across a household that ingeniously stores peanuts in the Q Drum while they are not storing water with it due to an abundance of rainwater!
