Text: Isaiah 41:17-18, Amos 5:24, John 4:3-14, John 4:7-9: 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans)
Reflection
Segregated water access and integrated communities When I was a little girl, I was raised with the benefits and challenges of living with my family in small towns in the northern state of Ohio and the deep south in my homeland, the state of Alabama in a small rural community. In the north, I had the benefit of running water with the added fluoride that was touted for building strong teeth in those days. We also had water fountains in my local predominantly white public school. Although this water was “free” to all students, paid by taxpayers, during my first four years of my primary education, the white children did not join me in line at the water fountain. Rather, they waited and sometimes watched me as I used the fountain. In the rural south, the water was not “running water” but came from the deep wells in the back yard of my grandfather’s house and the front yard of my granny’s houses on our family homelands. This was the norm for other people of African descent who owned rural lands[1] or those who may have still been sharecropping[2] in that period. During this season when federal policies of integration were being enforced, the south was still very segregated and resistant to integration just like in the north.[3] In both these experiences, the water as well as the people, whether in the segregated south where wells gave cold and deep waters or in the north where the cold stares and glares of white persons expressing resistance to people of African descent, it was deeply troubling, historic, and steeped with fear and hatred. Still, the neutral God-given gift of divine water, materially and spiritually, not only provided what we needed for drinking, cooking, washing, and all other tasks of the household but also provided the waters for baptism and other church-related moments. Indeed, water provided lemonade and iced (sweet) tea for the church dinners and pot liquor for cooked greens, for example. Water provided a key ingredient of the sustenance of life that made it possible for our surviving and thriving — thanks be to God and the reverent ancestors who nurtured the lives of their descendants like me. At the same time, both the wells and the water fountains were meeting places. The southern wells were the meeting places for family and rural neighbors. The northern water fountains were meeting places for the children’s eyes that watched but did not dare engage those who were different from them. The Samaritan woman These gathering places of water remind me of the story of the Samaritan woman who drew water at a shared place for the well-being of herself and those she knew. This she did at a segregated place for Samaritans and Jews as well as women and men just like it happens today in many places in the world. According to a 2015 World Vision report[4] women, primarily in developing regions, spend over 140 million hours daily collecting water — a deeply gendered, physically exhausting, and dangerous task. This ritual perpetuates segregation by restricting women's education and economic opportunities, exposing them to violence, causing chronic health issues, and reinforcing caste or class divisions. These same women and girls are also subject to gender-based violence when fetching water far from their homes and may be subjected to sourcing dirty water that may cause illness and even death. The National Institutes of Health reported from a study conducted that women and men experience different health and social consequences from consuming contaminated water[5], with women often facing higher, more complex risks due to biological, social, and caretaking roles.[6] The story of the Samaritan woman is a biblical example of class and ethnic divisions that brought about similar threats, but also opportunities. I imagine she knew and met many people probably women, like herself who fetched water and perhaps built a community from this practice of meeting at shared water sources. Given this, the Samaritan woman must have been taken aback, or perhaps even frightened, like many women and girls would today if an unknown man confronted them on their way to fetch water. Unfortunately, there are so many stories today of young girls and women who are taken advantage of by those who have injurious intent, even unto death, who approach them when they’re performing their household chores. Jesus was not this kind of presence to the Samaritan woman. He did not stare and glare at her from afar nor did he seek to insult her identity as a Samaritan woman. He invited her into mutual conversation and a more abundant life not only dependent on the physical need for water but the need for a deeper spiritual life found in and through Jesus. Well-being is not just a physical experience but is spiritual and Spirit filled. Such comes from knowing Jesus and following his leadership for a more equitable balance of sustainable life that is spiritual, physical, and mental for and with all. It is through such a relationship that we can build a world where water safety is ensured both in the act of collecting and in the quality.
Questions for discussion
- Where do you see segregated patterns in your life that may mitigate against your well-being and the well-being of community?
- What is your vision of safe water for all to allow for more inclusion of women and girls who currently don’t have access to safe water?
Practical Actions
- Advocate within your own communities for unsegregated access to water for all.
- Encourage policies and practices to protect and regulate our water supplies.
- Engage in educational campaigns that highlight the issues in this article.
Further resources
- Charity Water: The Water Crisis is a Women's Issue: https://www.charitywater.org/stories/women-and-water
- De Guzman, K. et al. (2023) “Drinking water and the implications for gender equity and empowerment: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative evidence,” International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 247, p. 114044. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114044.
[1] https://www.facingsouth.org/1974/08/black-land-loss-plight-black-ownership [2] https://www.history.com/articles/sharecropping [3]https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/deseg/e1.html#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court's%201954%20Brown,other%20handled%20grades%204%2D6. [4] https://www.worldvision.org/clean-water-news-stories/important-women-issue-you-never-heard#:~:text=There%20may%20be%20no%20greater,among%20children%20younger%20than%2014. [5] https://www.charitywater.org/stories/women-and-water [6]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36395654/#:~:text=Results:%20A%20total%20of%201280,around%20water%20compared%20to%20men. -
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