No Water Means No Pets

black-child-dog-20227450

Does your family have a dog for a pet? According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 37-47% of households in the United States have dogs as pets. That adds up to 70-80 million dogs.

If you don’t have access to clean, pure water, it is not easy to have a dog and care for it properly. In Mozambique, every drop of water is precious when you don’t have any water source nearby. And, women and children are walking 3-8 miles every day just to fetch dirty, contaminated water.

Water is a precious commodity, even if it is dirty water. It is hard to imagine just how much the lack of easily accessible water affects every detail of life. Girls can’t go to school because they are busy walking, fetching, and carrying water. Bathing is very limited. Villagers can’t grow gardens. (They don’t carry water from miles away, just to pour it out on a garden). So, their food source is limited, too. Each day is all about survival for that day.

Beyond that, children don’t have any expectations. No birthday parties, no Christmas toys, and no movies on Friday night. All the “luxuries” we take for granted in our culture—even having a dog to love and play with—is unthinkable. It just doesn’t happen in Mozambique.

However, when a new water well is drilled in a village, it changes all aspects of life for the better. No, a pet wouldn’t be the first priority, nor the second, third, or fourth. But one day, in the not-so-distant future, children may be able to have a dog that brings joy and companionship into their lives. With a water well right in the village, having enough water for a dog would no longer pose a problem!