SOUTHEAST Asian refugees who passed through the Philippines often narrated stories about their experiences of living in a country devastated by war and strife.
One such story told by a refugee from Vietnam is about the experience of water scarcity in reeducation camp. One shower would be shared among many persons. The inmates would line up in a circle, and as the circle turned around, each person had three turns under the faucet. At the first turn, each person had ten seconds to wet himself, before the next person pushed him to move on. At the second turn of the circle, he had ten seconds to soap himself under the water. At his last turn, he had a final ten seconds to wash off the soap. And while one person stood showering, someone would be sitting and scrubbing his clothes with the run-off from the bathing person!
This story illustrates the point that humans can actually live and survive using only a small amount …