My name is Curity Ogada, a multimedia storyteller, communications specialist, and a lover of water and all that it encompasses. I am a testament to the reality that fetching water is often left solely to women and girls. As young as five years old, I learned how to fetch water from the river, and by the age of seven or eight, I would make countless trips after school, sometimes until late in the evening, just to ensure there was enough water at home. When water is all you think about, it begins to affect your overall wellbeing. It affects you mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I am a storyteller, and over the years I developed a deep interest in water because water is life. Water carries ecosystems, countries, livelihoods, lifelines, and the stories of the people connected to it. When you can access water from a tap, there is a chance you may take it for granted. However, some people walk long distances just to access water, and sometimes that water is not even safe for drinking. To make matters worse, they do not always return home safely. They come back with wounds that last a lifetime. These are the kinds of experiences that alter a woman’s or a child’s life forever. They change their view of life, alter their hopes and dreams, damage their emotions, instill fear, and stain their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Many times, when you encounter trauma of any kind, depending on the degree, it paralyzes you. You cannot think, speak, or even react. You remain silent. When you stay silent for too long, that silence becomes louder, and the fear of sharing takes over, often because society shames victims instead of protecting them. You fear people will look at you differently, like an outsider. Why has it become so normalized to victimize and shame survivors of violence instead of standing with them?
In my career, I have encountered brave women who chose not to remain silent. They shared their stories courageously, and this touched me deeply. These are women who inspire renewed hope to live, heal, and move forward despite the pain of their past.
I wanted to do more.
Our women and children should not endure pain just to fetch a pail of water.
We shall do all we possibly can to fight this injustice among us; an injustice that prevents all people from enjoying their right to water. We shall speak up, create safe spaces, seek justice, speak solutions, tell stories, and champion hope.
We shall not remain silent anymore. We shall not live in pain.
This is the essence of Pail of Pain. As unbelievable as it may sound, so many women and children associate a pail of water with immense pain and trauma.
Even though many may not believe these atrocities happen, we shall create a database that shows just how rampant and diverse water injustice is. We shall provide the data and the stories, and we shall use them to inform policies, create safer communities for women and children.
We say this again: a pail of water will no longer be a source of pain.
