Today, Kamli, all of 9 years old, with lovely, expressive eyes, is in exemplary spirits.

 

Today she can wash her clothes, cook her food, and if all goes well, she can even wash herself, and wear her favorite patched, blue dress.

She has very good reason to be happy.

Despite the muffled pain in her shoulders.

She has just finished walking all the way up the dusty, gravel path to her village well, her feet rather well protected by a pair of slightly cracked plastic sandals passed down by her now married elder sister. A luxury denied to many of her friends, who take the challenge barefoot. And she is pleased to be the first one to be back today, having won the silent, unstated competition that she has with her friend.

She has just finished the grueling 11 kilometer walk carrying a not so gleaming pot of water. Though she is contended to have successfully concluded the daily challenge, she will never make it into the celebrity list of Ice bucket challengers. Or for that matter even a commoner list.

Perhaps because she will never have the luxury of drenching herself in a full bucket of water anyway.

On a good day, a few mugs, perhaps.

And Kamli will never have a Selfie taken.

This is the story of Kamli, and a few million other young girls like her who will never know what a bucket challenge is, but who silently participate in it anyway. Unsung, uncelebrated.

On average, women in developing countries walk 6 kilometers a day to collect water" because there is not enough of it nearby.

When you need water to do everything from washing your body, brushing your teeth, cooking your meals, washing your clothes, water for bathing, you count every single drop. You realize how important water is, especially if you're the one that has to go to collect it and bring it back.

Every single drop counts.

"Across many countries, people spend over 100 billion hours every year walking for water, across grimy, dusty paths. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated."

 

This post is an ode to each one of them.
 

Disclaimer

The author has nothing but admiration for all the celebrities and commoners across the world who are queuing up to endure the suffering of drenching themselves in buckets of icy water, with Selfies and Facebook posts to prove their successful participation.

After all, it's all for a good cause.