"No water today" - A children's school drama in rural South Africa

"No water today" is a drama that was performed by pupils of the Mchuci Primary School on location at Hlabekisa Village near the Kruger Park border in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was filmed and produced in August 2012 by Grant Gibbs of the Hippo Water Roller Project.

Scene 1 - Wake up!
[Daughter] There is no water for me to wash. What must I do?
[Mother] Here is a little water left over - use this to wash your face.
[Father] Why is there no water at home? Our daughter can't go to school dirty!
Child take your bag and go to school now.

Scene 2 - The classroom
[Daughter] Morning Ma'm, sorry that I am late.
[Teacher] This is not good enough! How am I supposed to teach you properly if you are always late for school? You come to school smelling dirty.
[Daughter] But Ma'm we don't have any water at home!
[Teacher] That is no excuse - everybody has the same problem - now go and sit down.

Scene 3 - At home
[Mother] I am not feeling well and the water is far away!
[Father] But it is your job to make sure that we have water.
[Mother] The water is very heavy and difficult to carry from so far... perhaps they will deliver water for us today?
[Father] I hope so too...

Scene 4 - Water tanker
Water tanker arrives... Ladies queue for water... Arguing over position in queue... Some ladies get water... Others get none! The tanker ran dry!

Finale
[Song] Kids don't lie...
This is a reality faced by rural households everyday!

The Solution
The Hippo Water Roller... Appropriate Technology... For improved access to water...

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  Nonprofits & Activism