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Buckets, Tanks, and Thirst: The Reality of Campus Life Without Water


Imagine a university campus where every drop of water is treated like liquid gold.
Students stand in snaking lines, clutching empty buckets and jerrycans as if they're
queuing for an exotic elixir. They hoist these containers like prized treasures, bought at
steep prices that eat into their lunch money and allowances.
On this campus, each morning starts with a groggy trek to the lone water source on the
ground floor, where students gather before the crack of dawn. Those living on the top
floors of their halls face an epic journey worthy of myth. They carry gallons of water up
narrow staircases, dripping sweat, as their muscles strain under the weight. And when they
finally reach the top, there's the ritual of rationing every ounce. Bathing becomes a
delicate balancing act of conserving water while trying to get clean. Even washing hands
or brushing teeth becomes a meditative practice in water conservation. And forget about
laundry day, that’s a monumental effort, sometimes postponed until clothes are practically
begging for mercy.
It’s a University campus where most students dodge sports like the plague, fearing
they’ll sweat themselves into oblivion, only to face the horror of needing gallons of water
they simply can’t afford just to feel clean again! On this campus, female students face
“that time of the month” with a sense of doom- not because of the usual discomfort, but
because it means scrambling to find enough money to buy extra gallons of precious water.
It’s less about the pain and more about the battle for basic hygiene. It goes on and on. Well,
that is the story of the students of the University for Development Studies, Nyankpala
Campus.
Since 1992, the University for Development Studies, Nyankpala campus, has been a
place where running water is a distant dream, an elusive luxury. Not a single drop flows
through the campus pipes, leaving students to a never-ending struggle for water. For the
traditional halls of residence; Union, Nyankpala, and Jeddah Hall, the system is a weekly
spectacle of desperation.

Once a week, water tankers rumble onto campus like messengers from a distant oasis,
delivering just enough to fill the waiting poly-tanks. Students crowd around in anticipation,
desperate not to miss their one shot at securing water for the week. Hall executives, almost
like gatekeepers, oversee this high-stakes water distribution exercise, rationing the
precious supply as if it were the last drops on Earth. Missing this weekly ritual means
either braving days of unimaginable thirst or paying a king’s ransom to local vendors.
And the struggle is even harder for those in some private hostels, where the mere
mention of "water supply" is a cruel joke. No water tankers here, no weekly allocation,
just a relentless, daily chase to scrounge up enough to buy water from local vendors, who
sell it by the gallon at eye-watering prices. The vendors cruise around on tricycles like water merchants in a parched wasteland, charging rates that bleed student budgets dry. For
these students, each gallon bought feels like a slice of tuition sacrificed.
For freshers, the thrill of finally becoming a university student is a dream realized, a
feeling of fulfilment like no other. They leave home with bags packed and heads full of
daydreams, envisioning a grand, bustling campus where opportunity flows as freely as the
water surely will. The journey to campus is one of endless imagination: they picture
themselves in bright lecture halls, exploring libraries, forging lifelong friendships.
But then, they arrive.
Instead of the vibrant, welcoming atmosphere they pictured, they're greeted by clouds of
choking dust, swirling like a dry desert storm. The air feels thick and heavy, the landscape
parched and barren, and here’s the cherry on top, there is no running water. The hall faucets
stand as silent relics, taunting them with the promise of a convenience that simply doesn’t
exist!
This endless pursuit of water shadows the university experience, making it less about
academics and more about survival. For the students of Nyankpala Campus, their thirst
is not just physical; it’s a profound long for dignity and relief...

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