Heating water
Bucket shower
Bucket shower
After taking my first shower at bush camp, I realize that I’ve taken for granted how easy it is to get clean. Even in Arua, all I have to do is go to my bathtub, or sink, or even the spigot outside, and turn on the faucet. I squirt a bit of my moisturizing body wash or a pump of my scented antibacterial hand soap and lather up. I wash away, usually with hot water, and then dry off with a soft, fluffy towel. Life is good.
“Difficult” is an understatement here. When I want to take a shower, the first step is to go to the borehole pump to get the water. Even in this, we are blessed here, because the pump is only a hundred yards or so from my tent and even less than that from the shower. Most people in Africa have to walk a quarter mile or more, just to get their water… and then haul it home by hand… or on top of their head!
The water from the borehole is pretty cool. In the middle of a hot day, that’s not a bad thing. But if you want a hot shower, you need to pour your water into a kettle and heat it over the fire… which again we are blessed to have already going for us. The warmth of your shower depends on how long you’re willing to wait. (By the way, BIG thanks to Aunt Janet for giving me the rest of her hot water. I was content to take a cool shower, but got the treat of a hot one, thanks to her!)
Once your water is warm, you pour it into the bucket in the shower stall. Hoist the bucket up as high as you can with the pulley, (which still isn’t high enough, if you’re as tall as I am!) and turn the lever for the shower head. It’s important, too, to make sure you turn off the water in between rinses, or you will run out—not a good thing when your head is full of shampoo!
As complicated as this process is, it’s nothing compared to what most people in Africa go through on a daily basis. The bucket shower is replaced by a basin behind the house. Laundry is all washed by hand. And every drop of water you use is carried in from the borehole.
Just as I take physical cleanliness for granted, sometimes I forget just how difficult my spiritual cleanliness was to come by, as well. It was so easy, and so refreshing, for me to come before God and be presented pure and holy… I forget just how difficult a process it really was. I forget all that Jesus had to go through: the dishonor of the Creator of the universe being limited by a physical human body; the Prince of Angels being said to work His miracles through the power of demons; the perfect, holy Son of God suffering through a torturous criminal’s death. Getting clean was not easy. It just seems that way, because I didn’t have to do the work!
No comments:
Post a Comment