When I lived in Jamaica from 1993 to 2007, our water supply would frequently be cut off and though it was often for a matter of hours/overnight as opposed to days on end, still the impact was felt.
I never appreciated water so much as when I heard the happy gurgling sound when the taps were turned on again when the water began to flow.
It was in my heart and mind to somehow get involved in protecting the precious resource of water once I had returned to Canada. In Canada I don’t believe I ever had to go without water and the preciousness of it faded into the background.
Nevertheless, I was thrilled when our congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph in Canada decided last year to give a substantial donation to Water First (water first.ngo) towards an internship program for indigenous youth regarding how to monitor the water supply to First Nations reserves- one small step in water protection and promoting water as a human right.
I was also glad when our congregation decided to become a Blue Community and hire a Coordinator to assist us.
Fast forward to today. I just returned from a global witnessing trip in Dominica with 2 other Sisters of St Joseph (Sr Ann MacDonald, pictured above) where we stayed with two Presentation Sisters and an Associate of the Presentation Sisters who minister there. While there, a crew working on the roads in the re-building of Dominica after the devastating destruction unleashed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, ruptured a water main and we were six women without water for 24 hours.
This inconvenience is minor when compared to water issues that millions of people face every day around the world.
I was once again reminded of the precious gift that water is and my/our own responsibility to do all we can to reduce our use of water and to guard against contamination of water.
Our lives and those of the generations after us depend on it.
- Sr. Nancy Sullivan, csj
The Sisters of St. Joseph are also proud supporters of the incredible work that Water First does. Please visit their site to see the impact they are making - Everyone deserves access to safe, clean drinking water.
