Usually, we get to see the Dawasco man more than once a month. He comes to the gate every 2-3 weeks on average, demanding to be let in, insisting that we are breaking the law if we refuse him entry. And maybe we are.
It's just that we don't care anymore.
Last month when he came in, I didn't know he was here. We had a new employee whom he bullied into opening the gate, and by the time I saw him outside, he had been at the water connection several minutes. I raced out to intercept him.
One quick note: DAWASCO is the local water company, whose job is to provide us with water in the pipes coming to our house. To have this luxury is expensive, and we pay dearly for it. The water is not drinkable and you don't want to get too much in your mouth in the shower.
The conversation was always the same:
DM (Dawasco Man): You haven't paid your bill and I'm turning off your water.
Me: Oh, but we have paid our bill. We pay it each month. Check with your office.
DM (standing over me and raising his voice): YOU HAVEN'T PAID YOUR BILL. NO WATER.
Me: Oh, please don't turn off our water. I can show you the stamped receipt.
DM (almost nose to nose with me now): I'M TURNING OFF YOUR WATER TODAY!
This conversation usually goes on for about five minutes, until DM wields his power and says he won't shut off the water today, but if I don't pay the bill (which he never has), he will turn it off tomorrow. Or, I can pay him the amount right now and my problems will go away.
For those who know me, you know I'm just playing along with the cultural expectation of being polite and taking abuse from the one perceived to be in power. Because I generally don't ask abusive people to pretty please not harm me.
But back to last month...DM, when I arrived on the scene in our yard, walked through the above script, agreed (after much pleading from me) that he would not disconnect our water that day, and left. However, he had already turned off our water, before I knew he was there. Which meant that two or three days later, when we had gone through our maji storage tanks, we ran out of water.
This upset me in several ways. First, we do pay a lot of money for the luxury of that Dawasco line. And even though it doesn't work half the time, we can fill up our 4000 litres of storage and live on that for a few days, using water sparingly.
My Mama Bear instinct also came into play. Not having water puts my children at risk. It's more difficult to bathe and have water for cleaning food and filtering to drink. Not bathing puts my children at higher risk for illness. DM had lied to my face about leaving the water on and was apparently alright with leaving our water off for a month, despite the fact that we had paid all of our bills on time.
Finally, I spent the whole of that Saturday climbing around the clay tile roof of our house, rigging up a system with our garden hose and our reserve reserve tank to get water into the tanks on our roof, which feed water into our taps. Fundi bomba mama.
So, this morning when he came in and started the same song and dance, I cut him off and told him to get out. He told me I couldn't. I told him our security men could and went to press the call button. And this is when he changed his tone and started calling me Sister, Rafiki....When he reverted to his abusive lines, I told him to get out immediately and he did, handing me a fake bill (with a ridiculous total) as he went. He again offered to take payment immediately to make these problems go away.
Len came screeching around the corner a few minutes later. Racing about 50 yards past our gate, he somehow managed to squeal the tires in the dirt road as he stopped suddenly beside DM. That was actually pretty cool. After telling DM to never to yell at his wife again, Len showed him a current, paid bill with our balance. It turns out Dawasco actually owes us money!
But there is no happy ending to this story...DM couldn't stop lying to me today about whether or not he turned our water off before, he tried to say he turned it on today and we should thank him...I can't help but feel a little sorry for him, because he is clearly struggling with the truth. And he is a guy who is likely making far less than what covers his basic needs, and public servants here of all kinds depend on bribes to break even. And though it's not legal, it's part of the fabric of this society. While we are fortunate to have water today when so many of our friends don't, we know that tomorrow we may well be the ones with empty tanks and no water in the pipes. In this mess of power and water shortages, we feel blessed when we have either, let alone both.
All over the world, this scenario happens in various degrees hourly, only many are not as empowered as we are to stand up for what is right. And this grieves me. Because I know that I am too often the one enjoying all of life's bounty and not taking time to concern myself with those who need help fighting injustice.
In the big picture, this morning's events will fade out, but coming face to face with injustice troubles me tonight. Especially when the injustice seems to be coming from so many directions.
God, help me be patient with your timing, and trust you as the keeper of justice.
