Se fue la luz; Se fue el agua

(The power's gone; the water's gone)

Two comments we now hear on a daily basis........

Electricity and Water. Two things we take so readily for granted. At a flick of a switch we have power, a turn of the tap fresh water.

All of the communities where we work have access to electricity and potable water, in theory. However for various reasons much of the community of El Pochete by the school of Elba Zamora has been with out running water for 4 months, forcinug them to buy barrels of water, delivered daily on horse and cart. Similar stories are common place in most of the rural communities, some days it comes, some others not and there's nothing one can do.

For us city dwellers life has been all together more comfortable and we have not been effected by such problems. That is until recently.

Nicaragua is in the middle of an energy crisis (i.e. it hasnt the capacity to provide power to the nation) and whist it waits for help promised by Venezuela, Cuba and its new friend Iran the country is being plagued by severe powercuts, on a daily basis. We are without power for anything between three and twelve hours.

A side effect of no electricity means there is no power to power the water pumping stations so we are therefore also without water. From 7am to 6pm every day we have no running water.

Having only one of the other or neither of the two really makes you appreciate what the majority of us never contemplate in that water and power are not automatic rights.

20% of the worlds population still has no access to drinking water, 40% lack adequate sanitary facilities.......

...just something to bare in mind when the lights go out or the tap runs dry.