The closest I've ever come to being without clean, safe water was one day a couple of years ago. The fire department had just flushed the hydrant outside our home and soon after, I began to fill up our Brita filter. Only the water was yellowish and I immediately tossed it down the drain, thinking there was no way I we were going to drink it until it was clear again. It remained yellow all day and I was in a bit of panic at bath time because I wasn't sure it was a good idea to put children who usually swallow a few mouthfuls of bath water in a tub filled with stuff that I wasn't sure was safe. I think we may have chanced it and given them a bath anyway. The next day, the water was clear again. Mini-crisis over.
At least the crisis was over for us - a mere blimp on a horizon abounding with clean, running water at my immediate disposal. But I've grown increasingly aware that for many people, they don't have a choice in what kind of water they give their families to drink or bathe their children in. They don't even have much choice in where they get their water (I could have gone to the store if I needed drinking water). Their only choice is the nearest water hole, one most likely shared my animals, one filled with contamination and disease-causing organisms.
When I read this article in the Spring 2011 edition of World Vision magazine, I was again reminded that something I take for granted is a huge obstruction to social justice for many people in this world.
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