Miles after miles, I can't help but think the view out my passenger window looks strikingly similar to Arizona: a dusty foreground and mountains at a foggy distance, merging together in my vision as we drive on.
Until Jam, Fundación's Data Analyst, suddenly pulls over on the right side of the road. There in the clearing is a man sitting on a stone blocking the drainage ditch. He promptly gets up to leave. Jam gives a nod as if to say, "You'll want to see this".
The car comes to a slow stop and the two of us get out from the two front seats. We walk up to the stone blocking the drainage ditch. As we get closer I realize the stone is no coincidence. I am looking at a man-made structure.
"What is it?" I ask.
"A bath," Jam replies.
A public bath. I am speechless.
What do you mean a bath? It's in the open. It's in a ditch. It's not clean.
I struggle to understand.
Jam goes on to explain the government built them. That the metal pieces are used to contain the water when bathing and release the flow when finished. The sides are for animals to drink from.
We spoke few words after that. There was little to say.
Dirty water is appalling.
It doesn't have to be this way.