"The Bucket System"

Within 2 minutes of arriving at our bungalow at the campsite, Pam says, “let me introduce you to the ‘bucket system’”- her comment was followed by a little giggle that made me suspicious immediately. Here they are: 3 buckets, the dipping bucket, the washing bucket and the big water bucket that we fill from a pump outside our bungalow.

The camp is government-owned and about an hour, several small villages and many rough roads away from Port Harcourt. It seems like at some point (I don’t know how long ago), it was a really nice site, but it appears that neglect had presented us today with the “bucket system” for bathing and for using the toilet.






There is a toilet and tub but no running water and yes, that means there is NO HOT WATER! (I could hear some of my girls asking.) However, this morning, at 6 am, I saw that a woman sharing our bungalow had left a bucket of water in the bathroom with an electrical coil in it! I put my finger in and it was hot! (Yes, we do have electricity- well sometimes.) And, just for a moment, I can’t lie; I considered taking some of that hot water. But I resisted and proceeded with my exhilarating cold bird bath standing in the tub. I also, in habitual fashion, set out to wash my hair. Big mistake! The job required lots of small buckets of water. I had water all over the floor. There is always water on the floor and one does a lot of mopping in this situation. Anyway, one is never as conscious about water, it's cleanliness, usage and importance as when one is in a developing country. It's all good though, i am loving the content of the conference; see my next blog.

Signed,
Potty Trained :)