Living on One Dollar a Day

They drink little even when they are pregnant or breast-feeding. It’s as if they were deliberately rationing their intake. A key reason for this is the simple fact that they cannot find privacy to urinate! I call this “living under the tyranny of daylight.” Men have no compunction about urinating against a wall or a tree. Indeed there are corners of the city which have been turned into public urinals—smelly areas to avoid. But for women, it’s different.

CARE is working to make water safe—first by helping communities make huge clay water jars to increase the rain “catchment” from roof tops, and then by introducing sand filters. We also work with the University of Dublin to introduce SOLDIS—solar disinfection of water. In the meantime, I am grateful for the water I am given and my boiled egg for breakfast.

By Sharon Wilkinson

To read more of Sharon’s diary, visit care.org/dollaraday