We have enjoyed the delights of what I believe to be the world’s first self-tanning shower. The rusty red water has not only stained our vintage enamel bath but has also left us a slightly unusual orangey colour. Well this was the position last year but now some work has been undertaken by the water authority and it’s lost the colour but now has taken on a slightly oily sheen, maybe this is a moisturising lotion?

Would we recommend drinking this stuff? As a local yes, but only after boiling, as a lilly-livered Brit it needs a little more treatment. So what’s the solution? There follows a simple step-by-step guide to safe drinking water in Angoche.

One
First collect water from a nearby well (they use a tatty rope and a yellow vegetable oil container to collect the “água” from the depths. This is transported in an oversized pink 20 litre bucket on Assane’s head. Five bucket loads cost 25 pence.

Two
Transfer the 5 bucket loads into a large grey water butt located in our kitchen which has a drainage tap located at the bottom. Let the water settle and then…….

Three
Light a small charcoal “fogo” outside the back door using cardboard recycled from packaging, decant some water from the butt and boil for about 5 minutes in a large stainless steel pan. Allow to cool and then ……..

Four
Transfer into a smaller yellow 10 litre bucket, allowing the sediment and grit to settle then…..

Five
Filter using a ceramic filter to ensure that the grit doesn’t get consumed.

Variations on the above would be to filter and then boil and also to add some bleach. Not adopted by us yet!

Other alternatives……. you can buy bottled spring water but the helpful Portuguese doctor in Nampula during one of our attempts to seek medical assistance shook her head from side to side in a “little children should know better” manner whilst making a clucking chicken noise when we made this suggestion.

Water is such a vital resource in Angoche and many of the inhabited islands do not have potable water available. Islands like Jovane rely on a 45 minute boat trip for their drinking water. Some island well water is available from a shallow pit, dug as deep as possible down to an underlying rock strata. The water is salty and is not clean looking, but gets used for washing.

From first hand experience we know that clean water is fundamental to good health and in such hot conditions keeping properly hydrated is a massive challenge. So during the hotter months a regular string of people will call in asking “água faz favor”. All of this makes some of the biblical accounts come to life, moaning Israelites in the wilderness being provided water from a large rock, and encounters with Jesus at the well which lead to discussion about living waters.

It’s sobering to note that so many people died here last year due to cholera, a water-borne disease that can be mitigated by the provision of clean water. We received first-hand reports of hundreds of people dying each week. Even with the best resources available finding good water in some of these locations is impossible, so education and employment are such important factors which can contribute to good health. Being here we’ve been able to make a small dent in addressing these issues, but maybe more significantly we now have such a better understanding of what it means to be without fresh water.

And maybe there is a spiritual lesson that can be drawn from this – we do need to draw from a pure source every day, and also help those who do not have access to clean supply to find living water that will transform their lives. This means that, using the words of Jesus “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever.”