The last time we got water was Wednesday of last week! Boo! Hopefully something will change tomorrow!? Apparently there was a meeting in town to discuss the water shortage. There is a town uphill from Curahuasi called Puka Puka that has been sending Curahuasi water over the dry season, but they have decided to cut us off. Also our reservoir is almost dry. And so there is a water crisis, not only in our house, but in all the town. For some reason our house gets it worse, because other houses are still getting water, but that could change. The people discussed asking Diospi Suyana to help with the water. The hospital has its own well, but it cannot serve for the entire community. I cannot help but find it a little amusing, because Diospi Suyana has brought a water expert out several times over the years to give advice on how to improve the water situation, but the leaders and the town have not wanted to follow his advice. There is enough water for everyone all day, but Curahausi would need to build a few more reservoirs in different spots around the town. Also people would have to have their water use measured. Currently we pay $1.50 a month for water. I guess you get what you pay for. But because water is irregular people leave their valves constantly open. So you have to measure the use so that people will turn their taps off. Of course this means that prices go up. The public response to this idea was very negative. They would rather not have much water than pay a little more for plenty of water. Their style of life is different. They do not shower on a regular basis, nor do they wash their clothes regularly. Probably most people do not have more than one extra set of clothing. Interestingly, in the past there was constant water in town. The national government sent money to the leaders of the town to grow the water utilities along with the growth of the town. Somehow that money was not used for this work. It either went into the politicians pockets or it was used elsewhere. And so now the government will not send more money because they already have sent it and it was misused. So we have a problem with leadership and with a lack of public will. I cannot help but wonder what will happen if we really do run out of water completely. Could there be violence against Puka Puka, the community that is not sharing their water. I do not think it is outside the realm of possibility.

Please pray that we will get rain early this year. We are still a few months away from the end of the dry season, but this area really needs it. Please pray that our house will receive more water pressure. Our family morale goes down a little each day when we do not have it. When we went a month without water at the end of May going into June we were pretty discouraged. So pray for our spirits as well.