Teetering slightly, the old vieja gripped both handles of the large clay pot brimming with water and heaved it upward onto her head. The pot itself was a festive sight, the clay gleaming with a coat of rich coffee glaze, the bright blue sash wrapped around the mouth of the basin rippling in the slight wind and across her toothy laughing smile. Children and adults alike crowded around her cheering as she momentarily balanced the water on her head. onto the ground. Then, with the strength in her small frame, she heaved the pot onto the ground. Clay and water shattered everywhere, splashing the onlookers and causing everyone to burst out in applause and whistles. It was the traditional breaking of the "cántaro." Smashing the pot symbolizes the communities freedom from collecting water in pots from the river, because a new water system was now connected to every home.
The blue and white ribbon was cut, the llave turned on, and everyone wanted their taste of the water. Old men stuck their head under the facet, a refreshing way to cool off after the heat of the day. Children stuck their mouths right under the tap. Thirsty myself, I filled up my water bottle when I could sneak it in, and took a long, satisfying drink. Water clean enough to drink. So simple, so basic, and so necessary.
Water is everything, and we--the privileged--take so much advantage of it. We waste money on bottled water when free water is provided, we take hour long showers at gallons a minute, we leave sprinklers running so that our lawns can be slightly greener, and we don't blink an eye. Sorry for the small soapbox. But witnessing a whole community celebrating the advent of water...its so much easier to see the hypocrisies in my own life and in the society of my home country. I digress.
We were at the Water Inauguration in El Canton, Honduras, celebrating the completion of a water system that has taken over a year to complete in this rural coffee-producing puebla. It is a place that is dear to my heart, as it is where Public Health is currently working and I am close with many of the families that live here. Staff was invited to celebrate alongside the community. Songs, skits, fireworks, speeches, pinatas, food, drinks and all. The whole experience was amazing, but the moment that really stuck out to me was the old woman smashing the pot. Water for everyone, water that won't sicken them with parasites and will quench thirsts and clean hands and be the life-giving force that it is meant to be. Now they have it.
