The End.... ;)

Haha... so here I am - all rather very clean after completing the Water Challenge!

Waking up this morning, and realising that I could have a full-on 10minute shower, flush the loo, and just generally use water without the help of my measuring jug and various other calculations was just very pleasant! :) Carefully placing all my clothing that I wore during the week into the washing basket was rather a nice feeling too... ;)

Felt really clean this morning, whilst travelling to school in clean clothes & having had a proper shower ;)

Through this week, I guess the main thing I've learnt is that, unlike us, who can use water subconsciously at any time, because of the widely available access we have, there are some people in the world who's main problems and thoughts invading their minds are to do with water... whether they'll have enough to survive on.

This week has challenged me in so many ways; not just the fact that I wasn't able to have a shower, but the fact that I was using the resource I had access to in most places I go to, very carefully and calculating each time, so that I would be able to use it efficiently!

Before I started this challenge, I thought it would be too difficult, and that I just won't be able to do it... it's funny how, the things I thought would take up the most water (general cooking) takes up the least... and flushing the loo... well, takes up literally over half of my daily allowance! :P Haha(:


This I'm guessing will be the last post on this blog, from me... for probably a very long time(: maybe forever, but you never know ;) (not that I have anything in particular in mind in the reason to post again... obviously!)

But, one lasting thing...
.
.
.
Esther, Naomi and I did this as a 'challenge' for a week. There are people who do this every single day, without the luxury of free public toilet flushes and having 10L as a definite reserved amount for each day...

Thank-you so much for your on-going support(: & your sponsorships too!

Your support will go towards Tearfund, a charity that's working towards providing this essential need to those who don't have the everyday access to it, like you and I do(:

An idea of how the money raised will be used:
£20 enables Tearfund's church partners to provide year-round clean water, no more than 500 metres from home for one person.
£55 is the cost of enabling a family of EIGHT to achieve safe, adequate sanitation.


Hope this challenge has made you think, as much as it effected us in a lot of ways! :)

Maybe... you could try this out sometime? ;)

Thank-you, so, so, so, so, much, you lovely people :) xxx

HaEun's summary of Day 7... THE last summary! ;)

So, only three hours till this Water Challenge is over... personally, I think it's gone pretty quick, but I'm not sure what you guys thought, reading all these long blog posts of mine ;)

Revision so far has been successful to a certain extent, but I still got a lot to do... I'm afraid this summary is going to have to be rather short! :/  (as it has been for the past couple of days!)

So, water usage so far today, since the last count (i.e. last blog post) is 7.45L... I also drank about 485ml :-)
Haha, part of that was 6L used to flush the loo, and it wasn't accidental this time.... ;) besides, I had quite a lot of water on reserve, so it's okay :-) if it hadn't been for that, I pretty much would've used minimal water tonight too!

Anyhow! :-)

Therefore, total summary of Day 7: 1 Free public toilet flush + 10.75L + 485ml (for drinking) ;)
I probably won't be using any more water tonight... at least, I don't think!

Yesterday, I calculated that, my allowance for today was:
7 Free public toilet flushes... :P
My usual 10L allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)
PLUS 11.22L + 5.875L (for drinking)

Therefore, from above, theoretically, if Day 8 had existed, I would have the following left to roll over to tomorrow:
6 Free public toilet flushes... oops ;)
9.27L + 6.59L (for drinking)... haha :')

I guess the conclusion from that is that, I haven't used all the potential free public toilet flushes, and I haven't been drinking much ;) ooooops!

Haha, 'tis a strange feeling, writing the summary for pretty much, the very last time....

Will be back tomorrow though, after my exam, to summarise my experiences during the week! It should be very interesting... ;)

Thank-you so so so much for the support & hope you've enjoyed the blog :) x

Day 7 - How the last day of water challenge began(:

Well, I have a beautiful afternoon/evening planned ahead of me... revision!

But just before I get into it, I thought I would keep a record of how much I used so far on this lovely day(:

Haha, I love how I'm at home for the afternoon(: freedom! Listening to music and writing blog, after getting home on a rather peaceful bus journey straight after an awesome CU session, followed by a walk with two lovely friends(:

Anyhow...

So far, I've used about 3.4litre today... which is quite a lot, but it does include taking about 1 litre to wash this morning, to make my face appear a bit alive, as I'm feeling slightly ill(: and 1 litre was used at school, when I was washing my hands after going to the loo (at main school, before chemistry!)... (1 free public toilet flush used too;)) That's just an estimate, judging by the water that came out :P I didn't even need all of it, but it just showed how much water there is coming out every time it's pressed... wondering whether that's really necessary/needed... I mean, if not all of it is used, how much is being wasted everyday? :P

Oh, and I have drunk 200ml of milk this morning (which doesn't count), and some water (to take paracetamol), which I will count in later... once I've drunk a full 500ml water bottle (I drank if from that, to make it easier to count how much I drank :P) ;)

Think that's enough for now(:

Time for some mechanics... or maybe some tidy up before I get on with revision(; feeling rather motivated with happy music! You know, Switchfoot, Owl City etc. etc. :)

Hope you're all having a lovely lovely day(: xx

HaEun's summary of Day 6 :-) It's not purely about saving water.

So far, during the week and before I started taking part in Water Challenge, I've had various conversations with people, including my parents... all about how me using a 'little more' water wouldn't affect the whole consumption as much, and there's not a really point to 'just saving water'...

But the truth is, as much as we're limiting ourselves to the amount of water we use, this challenge seriously is not about purely saving water... as much as it kind of does in a way, it's about us experiencing personally of the situations which so many people face everyday on the other side of the world, because of lack of water. It is a serious injustice... I've felt this before, whilst in Uganda, but when I came back, I did try and use the resources I often take it for granted more effectively and efficiently, which, being honest, did start to fade away a little. I guess this week has made me think again :-) 

For those who know me, I can get a little bit argumentative... well perhaps a little bit more than that ;)

Alright, I can get very argumentative! But I am trying to make that happen less often... 

Anyhow, Naomi and I were having a conversation with one of our teachers today, and this came up as a subject, because we were talking about our water usage etc. :) The conversation overall was pleasant, but the one little part of the conversation that didn't really sit peacefully at heart was the fact that, on the topic of using microwaves instead, it kind of defeats the point, seen as the people in the developing world don't have that access... which I guess is true, and has a fair point. 

Hmmm, I really don't know what's going on in my mind at the moment, but I just felt kind of necessary to tell you that, even though I'm having an excess water that I can roll over to the next day's limit, and I'm finding it slightly easier than I thought I would, there are just so many supplies of water that I should be applying to my everyday life, but am not, because either it's just too difficult to calculate or any other weird reasons... But the truth is, I, in a way, have the 'luxury' to do that - to 'save' water... but I still have that access, and the choice to whether use more or not. Not a lot of people in the developing countries are in the same position as I am. 

As I've found out, no water = so many health & hygiene problems etc. Oh, I'm not even drinking enough either, as you can probably tell... It's just so much hmm... frustration that 10L really isn't a little amount, but once you start using it freely without a measuring jug, the limit gets filled up pretty quickly... 

Anyhow, moving on :-) Please don't forget that you can visit http://www.justgiving.com/hen-waterchallenge and donate (all money raised goes to Tearfund!) or you can just see one of us :-) Thank-you so much! 

Now, to calculate my water usage so far for today... ;)

I think you guys probably had enough of my long waffles.... so, here's just a sum of what I used today:

Morning before school: 750ml (and drank 250ml of milk, which doesn't count :P)

During school: 1 Free public toilet flush (used antibacterial hand gel afterwards!), 2L (because I bought lunch)

After school (evening!): 4.4L (200ml of milk, which again, doesn't count ;))

Therefore, total water usage for Day 6 is:

7.15L + 1 Free public toilet flush :) 

Haha, I love I haven't drunk any actual water today... ;)

My allowance for today was:
8 Free public toilet flushes ;)
My usual 10L allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)
PLUS 8.37L (general use) + 4.675L (for drinking)

From the above, I now have left (for today):

7 Free public toilet flushes ;)

2.85L of my usual allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)

PLUS 8.37L (general use) + 4.675L (for drinking)

Therefore, if I don't use any more water tonight, for Day 7 (last day! :D), I will have: 

7 Free public toilet flushes... somehow, I don't think I'll be using all of that :P ;)

My usual 10L allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)

PLUS 11.22L + 5.875L (for drinking)

Woah... that's quite a lot saved :P may use some water tonight... maybe :) if I can get a moment off from revision ;)

Right, better be off then ;) au revoir. Probably see you tomorrow(:

(Edited: 8:49pm :P) 

Second to Last Day

I keep forgetting about the loo flushing thing, So i haven't really drunk much recently.

However, good news, I managed to save enough to have a 'shower' type thing twice this week. So its relatively normal. Felix told me that if I hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have noticed anything different about my level of smelliness.

Its weird though that little things like flushing the loo use so much water. But also weird how I can save so much and live on so little. (i already knew this from Uganda, but applying it to my life in the UK is so different)

Last day tomorrow.. wooooo :) xxx

Day 6: I smell :(

So I'm on the train, and it's packed. I'm coming home from climbing, and I had to run for the train, so I'm all horrible and sweaty and smelly and the man next to me has just moved seats. I actually stink. I've got enough water for a 3 minute shower tonight though, so I'll be a bit better tomorrow :) One thing that I have been contemplating is this: on Friday, when this is all over, I'm going to have a huge bath with lots of bubbles and feel really clean. In a developing country, that's just not an option. We've had a hard time doing this for a week: I feel horrible and yucky and smelly as it is, but so many people have to live like this all the time. I hope the money that we've raised this week will help people like that, people who don't have the luxury of clean running water whenever they want it. If you can spare any money at all then please do, the fact that people have to live like this all the time is terrible, and I hope we will all do all that we can to help. I'm giving my lunch money for this week, and I hope that it will make a difference to someone's life. Thanks :) Naomi x

HaEun's summary of Day 5... shortest summary ever! :P

Haha, hellooo people :-)

Hope you're all having a great day!

So, it has not approached nearly the end of Day 5 ;)

The post today I'm afraid will have to be rather short... due to tonnes of work I have to do! :P But I'm pretty sure you're all fine with that... it just means you don't get any details to what I wear/ate etc. and other stuff I spent my water on... ;) shame really, seen as I did record it all on a post-it... ;)

I think I'm starting to get used to this whole 10L a day thing... I've made sure I focused when I went to the toilet, to not to flush... but my mum still puts out cutlery for me, despite having told her for the last five days that I have my own pile distinguished from all the nicely cleaned ones ;) We both agree that, when this challenge is over, she'll probably then not put out some at all for me :P

So, here is the Day 5 total water usage (I'm pretty certain that I won't be using anymore... but we'll see ;)):
No free public toilet flushes used... :P (because obviously, I didn't go to to the toilet whilst at school)
3.8L (general used) + 15ml (for drinking)

**QUICK EDIT - after this post, I used 1litre to wash my feet & hands and stuff :P so, all figures have been updated because of this(: sorry about the confusion!


Haha, I had a sip from my bottle you see... whilst 'working hard' in the library this morning.. it was just too hot! And my throat felt too dry :P  I did have 200ml of milk today though, so it's okay, I'm not dehydrating myself at all... ;)

I think I'm starting to get a cold though... I sincerely hope not!
I realised how having limited water access can have a huuuuge effect on not just hygiene & stuff, for general health too... I mean, I would quite like a hot shower right now, to get rid of all these ill-feelings!

So, back to calculations, yesterday, I concluded that for today, I have:
8 Free public toilet flushes :D
My usual 10L allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)
PLUS 2.17L + 3.49L (for drinking)


This therefore means that, from the allowance above, I now have left:
8 Free public toilet flushes (still! :D)
8.37L + 4.675L (for drinking! Oops...)

Haha, this means for Day 6 (woahh time does tend to fly quick...) I will have:
8 Free public toilet flushes ;)
My usual 10L allowance (inc. 1.2L for drinking)
PLUS 8.37L (general use) + 4.675L (for drinking) Yayyy! :D


Alright, I better be off....

Wishing you all a very lovely evening; see you tomorrow I guess ;)