The Water Carry
Because running water is not a
reality in many third-world countries, different methods have been developed to
ease the burden of transporting water that must sustain families for a given
period of time. We explored four
methods; carrying water on your head, a tumpline, the hand carry, and a q-drum
roller. Going into the exercise, we were
told that the hand carry was the only method that is not currently employed in
a third-world country, so I was expecting it to be the most difficult and least
practical method. Carrying water on my
head was without a doubt the most intimidating and the least familiar to
someone from the first world; however, with a little practice, I began to
convince myself that having water on the top of your head was probably the most
secure method and would be attached to the least amount of future physical
problems. The tumpline also seemed very
practical, seeing that the weight of the water was spread out over many points
of the body. Additionally, if a
waist-strap is added, the tumpline can resemble a hiking backpack where the
weight is placed on the hips, one of the strongest parts of the body. The last method, the q-drum seemed like a
first-world solution; pulling something behind you, the least physically
taxing, and very easy to take breaks.
When actually performing the exercise, new pros and cons to the
different methods arose.
A course
that consisted of slightly uneven pavement and a small trek through wooded
terrain can hardly compare to walking miles though “back country,” but it was
good enough to get a sense of which methods would be completely impractical and
which could stand a chance. I began the
exercise with the head carry. Needless
to say, this was my first time carrying gallons of water on my head, so my form
clearly had some flaws; however, I found that in order to be successful, one
must have good posture and walk at a constant pace to prevent the water from
sloshing around in its container.
Ideally, the head-carry would be a hands-free method and leave a person
able to multitask, and because the water (or whatever good someone is carrying)
is on top of a person’s head, it is safe from thieves or contamination. The major cons of the head carry are that it
restricts the movement of the carrier, meaning that they must remain upright
and change speed/directions at a slower rate.
Next I tried my hand at the q-drum method. I do not have a dog, but if I did I believe
that rolling the q-drum would be similar.
At times when I was moving downhill, the drum would speed up and roll in
front of me, then other times, like walking up stairs, I would have to use
nearly my entire body weight to get the drum moving. If all surfaces were paved, flat, smooth and
not crowded, the q-drum would be a
very practical method of carrying water; however, this is not the case. The most disturbing problem that arises is
that the opening of the drum, where the water goes in and out, was a centimeter
from the ground. The hygienic aspect of
the q-drum was clearly not considered…ew.
The tumpline came next, and with it was the reality that it was probably
the most taxing on the body. Good
posture did not make carrying the water any easier, in fact, a slouched
position yielded the best results.
Although the weight was easier to distribute, the best tumpline designs
required the most materials and thus would prove the most difficult to maintain
or replicate. The last method of water
transportation was the 1st world hand carry. While making my way around the course, I was
constantly trying to find a way to carry the water other than with one hand by
my side. I was putting the handle in my
elbow crease, using two hands and even switching hands/arms regularly. As a result of my movement, the water inside
the tub was constantly moving and splashing up along the sides of the
container. Without a lid, a significant
portion of the water would not have made it the entire journey.
From this
experiment, I think that the head carry is the most practical, followed by the
tumpline.
