«Since we have the well in the town, the women’s lives are easier. They no longer have to go to the river to look for water. Now they don’t walk as much and the pump makes the liquid come out without effort for them,” comments the president of the water management committee of Zatoboua, a small town in the south-central part of the Ivory Coast, before continuing: “The pump works very well, it never causes problems. The well is sealed and the water flows clean. Sometimes, at the end of the dry season, it runs out of water. So, the women have to go to the river again. But it’s only for a couple of weeks and they’re used to it. “It doesn’t mean a big sacrifice for them.”
The committee that manages the water is in charge of ensuring the proper use of the well, ensuring that its surroundings are always clean, collecting the fee that each family pays for its use and notifying the technician when the pump has a problem. These repairs must be covered with the money collected each month.
The committee is made up only of men, prominent people in the community. Among them, a president, a secretary and a treasurer are elected who collect the fees and keep the money. Today he gathered under a large mango tree in front of the chief’s house.
However, even if they are not part of the committee and cannot give their opinion, it is the women who use the well. Every day they make several trips between their houses and the well to get the water that the whole family uses. A group of them chats while waiting for another to finish filling their buckets and buckets, which they then, helped by a daughter, carry on their heads to transport them home.
The pump is pedal-operated. If it were in perfect condition, with a light pedal the water would come out easily and the process of filling the basins would be quick. But it seems that is not the case. The shoes are worn out and the women are forced to make a great effort, jumping with all their strength on the plunger. Sometimes they do it as a couple so they don’t have to use so much force. Despite this, the stream coming out of the faucet is weaker than it should be. That slows down the work. It takes more time to fill a basin. Sweaty after so much work, one of them comments: “Men don’t come very close here. We have already told the committee that the pump needs to be repaired. But they, as long as water continues to come out, they are not going to spend the money. “They are not the ones who have to come here every day and suffer like us.”
The men continue under the big mango, praising the virtues of the well and the advantages of having clean water. The women continue working and sweating so that they and the rest of the family never lack water.
