“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” is the line taken from The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, published in 1798 by English poet Samuel Coleridge.

The line perfectly describes the reality many villagers living on the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia experience on a daily basis.

The island is surrounded by a vast expanse of ocean, but local residents don’t have enough clean water to fulfill their daily needs.

In the isolated Golo Wuas village— one of the villages in Elar district, East Manggarai regency, or some eight hours’ drive from the regency’s capital town of Ruteng—most women have to wake up before sunrise to ensure they are the first to arrive at the small, drying well located some 100m from their homes.

Being late means they have to bring home muddy water, or worse still, no water at all.

“I usually wake up when my husband and two children are still asleep,” said 35-year-old Maria Variden, a housewife from Ndari hamlet in the village, and home to 1,490 residents who are mostly farmers.

“I’m very happy if I get to the well before others because it means I can bring home water for my family,” she told The Jakarta Post recently.
But getting to the well first did not always mean getting water. Maria recalled there were many times there was no water in the well.

Faced with this reality, she had to walk further to fetch water at a ricefield one kilometre away, which took her on a one-and-a-half hour along a rough road.

The water she collected at the ricefield was the water from an irrigation canal, which was muddier and yellow compared to that of the water found in the well.

Villagers in other hamlets—such as in Rea, Watu Kunis and Golo Garanwere —also facing water shortages are forced to take water from a river nearby, which they also share with their livestock.

Maria said the water scarcity meant that many villagers only bathed two or three times a week, and did their laundry once a month; dirty clothes were simply dried and reused and if washed, no detergent was used since it meant the use of more water.

Bernadus Mancung, a 64-year-old retired teacher, said many people had fallen ill from consuming unhealthy water.

“Water should be boiled before being consumed, but I know that many people drink unboiled water,” he said.

But a regular water supply was established in the village a year ago, when a local non-governmental organisation, Ayo Indonesia, set up clean drinking water facilities in Langga hamlet that also provided water for five nearby hamlets.

“We’re happy. Now we can take a bath twice a day, wash our laundry and the children clean up pretty well before going to school,” said 30-year-old housewife Wihelmina Mbawas.

She said before the arrival of clean water near their homes, many did not have toilets in their homes.

“Now, almost every house has a toilet, although not all of them are permanent,” she said.

According to the organisation’s director, Hurmali Tarsisius, the project began in 2007 and ended in October of the same year. The project is the 12th of similar projects the group has supported.

“Now the situation is getting better, people can take a bath and wash, and women, who are traditionally burden with the job of fetching water, can save energy and time,” Hurmali said.

“Many women cried tears of joy when the project was completed. They could not believe they had water right in front of their homes like their friends in the city.”

Silvester Harsidi contributed to this story from Ruteng, East Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara. (By STEVIE EMILIA In Bali/ The Jakarta Post/ AsiaNews)