When Every Drop of Water Matters

Myriam Laamoush - one of the many women, who try to keep dignified living standards regardless of the water shortage.

North of Amman is the city of Zarqa located. Zarqa is the 2. biggest city in Jordan and was originally a Palestinian refugee camp. This area is dusty, warm and dry most days of the year. Here the lack of water is a daily challenge and not just a blog post. Myriam Laamoush, mother of three, is one of the many women, who try to keep dignified living standards regardless of the water shortage.

Like the others in the neighbourhood, Myriam Laamoush only receives water once a week. This amount of water then has to last for the household and it is not enough for the family with three small children. “ I have to consider every drop I use and economize with it. So I collect the used water from the kitchen and use it a second time for the cleaning. But it is really hard work to purify, boil, collect and recycle the water over and over” Myriam Laamous tells, while showing the old water pipes that pollute the water with rust and her storage of bowls of water in the bathroom.

“The government is not doing enough. They should make a law to distribute the water more equally all over the country. Or at least make it more expensive to buy extra water rations, to make people more aware of their consumption.” As it is now the people living out of Amman is the ones suffering. Like for instance in Zarqa governorate, which is very tensely populated and in the countryside where the agriculture lacks water, and sometimes only receive water once a month.

The water shortage is an impending threat in all of the Middle Eastern countries. Due to rising temperatures, irregular rainfalls, flows of refugees, growing populations and pollution, the water resources are under pressure and water shortage is predicted to be a contributing cause for future political conflicts on the region.

Still the awareness of climate changes is measured to be very low in the Middle East in general, and people consume way more water than is available. In the cities in the dry region people still wash their cars and water their gardens every day. But not all people have this economically option. Myriam Laamoush is an example: “I have to come up with a solution for my problems myself. So for now I teach my children be careful when using any water and understand the importance of the water we have. The rest God will take care of, Inshalla”.