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The Village Water Girls
Millions Of Women Take A Long Walk With 40-Pound Water Cannisters
In parts of the world without running water, people must rely on an alternative: walking [to] water sources. It's a physically demanding, time-consuming responsibility and one that almost always falls to females.
In all sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, in some parts of India, Bolivia and Cambodia, in the households where a family member has to spend more than 30 minutes to collect water. The primary collectors of water are women, ranging from 46 percent in Liberia to 90 percent in Cote d'Ivoire. There are an estimated 13.54 million women (and 3.36 million children) who are responsible for water collection trips that take 30 minutes or longer.
Because of widespread gender inequality, females are saddled with most of the unpaid chores, and the hardships they face when carrying out this obligatory task. Many of the women and girls who regularly carry water are living in poverty.
The path to the water source may change frequently. Before setting off, a woman must figure out which source she can visit to actually acquire water on that particular day. There are seasonal shortages and rations that may complicate this decision — and lengthen the trip.
Collecting water takes time. Simply to get water for drinking, bathing, cooking and other household needs, millions of women and girls spend hours every day traveling to water sources, waiting in line and carrying heavy loads – often several times a day.
In times of scarcity, the journey time can be quite long. They may spend half an hour coming there and another half hour back. Once a woman gets to a water source, she can expect to spend even more time waiting in line. When there's just a single hand pump, progress is slow. It's common to leave a jerrycan or a pitcher to hold your spot, and rows of them can be seen stretching out for several meters long.
If the woman lives close enough, she may return home to do domestic chores. If not, she may just hang out. Then comes the hard part: taking the water home.
There are ripple effects of carrying water over long distances. The health implications of water collection carrying these heavy loads on one's head is associated with a particular pain pattern, with discomfort in the upper back and hands and an increased risk of headaches, spinal pain, and a higher percentage complain of back pain.
It's not necessarily a single trip for water each day that's causing these consequences. Depending on the size of the family and the household's needs — like laundry, for instance — women may make this trip multiple times on the same day.
These lengthy water collection times have real impacts on individual lives — typically, the lives of women and girls — and it's important that they're considered when measuring progress in access to safe water.
In parts of the world without running water, people must rely on an alternative: walking [to] water sources. It's a physically demanding, time-consuming responsibility and one that almost always falls to females.
In all sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, in some parts of India, Bolivia and Cambodia, in the households where a family member has to spend more than 30 minutes to collect water. The primary collectors of water are women, ranging from 46 percent in Liberia to 90 percent in Cote d'Ivoire. There are an estimated 13.54 million women (and 3.36 million children) who are responsible for water collection trips that take 30 minutes or longer.
Because of widespread gender inequality, females are saddled with most of the unpaid chores, and the hardships they face when carrying out this obligatory task. Many of the women and girls who regularly carry water are living in poverty.
The path to the water source may change frequently. Before setting off, a woman must figure out which source she can visit to actually acquire water on that particular day. There are seasonal shortages and rations that may complicate this decision — and lengthen the trip.
Collecting water takes time. Simply to get water for drinking, bathing, cooking and other household needs, millions of women and girls spend hours every day traveling to water sources, waiting in line and carrying heavy loads – often several times a day.
In times of scarcity, the journey time can be quite long. They may spend half an hour coming there and another half hour back. Once a woman gets to a water source, she can expect to spend even more time waiting in line. When there's just a single hand pump, progress is slow. It's common to leave a jerrycan or a pitcher to hold your spot, and rows of them can be seen stretching out for several meters long.
If the woman lives close enough, she may return home to do domestic chores. If not, she may just hang out. Then comes the hard part: taking the water home.
There are ripple effects of carrying water over long distances. The health implications of water collection carrying these heavy loads on one's head is associated with a particular pain pattern, with discomfort in the upper back and hands and an increased risk of headaches, spinal pain, and a higher percentage complain of back pain.
It's not necessarily a single trip for water each day that's causing these consequences. Depending on the size of the family and the household's needs — like laundry, for instance — women may make this trip multiple times on the same day.
These lengthy water collection times have real impacts on individual lives — typically, the lives of women and girls — and it's important that they're considered when measuring progress in access to safe water.