Hygiene is my favorite Peace Corps paradox. We, as volunteers, are supposed to be shining paragons of American virtue. This, of course, includes being clean and presentable the vast majority of the time in our sites and when travelling. The problem is that attitudes toward personal hygiene are reflected in infrastructure. This means that, in a culture like ours, we include amenities in newly constructed houses like showers, hot running water, integrated indoor plumbing, and deep sinks that facilitate our daily hygiene habits. However, in a culture like Morocco's, the hygiene infrastructure included in newly constructed domiciles is much more limited as a reflection of slightly different attitudes towards personal hygiene.
This is not to say that Moroccans are dirty. They most certainly are not! However, Moroccans, unlike most Americans, actively evaluate whether or not they are dirty and decide based on this whether or not to bathe on any given day. Americans, on the other hand, bathe according to a preset routine whether we need it or not. In my experience of rural Morocco there are certain hygiene activities which occur on a daily basis. These are the washing of the face and hands, for some this includes washing ones hair as well. These particular activities require very little in the way of constructed infrastructure, a bucket full of water will do nicely. It doesn't even really need to be heated, unless it's below freezing in your house.
This puts PCVs in an interesting bind. Do we wake up each morning and take the hour or more required to execute a proper bucket shower? Do we forgo this extensive and intensive process and hope no one notices? What about the health ramifications? Boils are not unknown among the volunteers in Morocco. How long is it acceptable to go without a shower; one day, two days, or even a week? The Peace Corps Medical Officers say every two days is necessary, but what if your site only has running water for a few hours a day. You might not even do dishes every two days if that is the case.
In this I am fairly fortunate. I have "running" water in my house all day every day, although the pressure sometimes leaves something to be desired. My bit l'ama (literally "water room"; read bathroom) is large enough to comfortably bathe standing upright in a bucket of heated water, and I have a kettle up to the task of heating enough water to bathe. As a result I bathe regularly. I know other PCVs who are not as fortunate, some have to hunch down to fit into their bit l'amas, some don't have running water in their houses consistently or even at all, and some still live with their host families. There are at least as many answers to the hygiene question as there are volunteers, and hygiene practices are often season and site specific. If you live in a cold site and don't sweat much or expose very much skin to dirt, then bathing doesn't seem as important. If your site is hot and the only relief you get is a cold water shower then you might take one or more showers every day.
The take home message is this: do not judge a scruffy volunteer too harshly or quickly. This person may be dealing with circumstances you are unaware of and probably will never have to share. They may be cleaner than they appear under their untidy mane of shaggy hair and stained pants. They might just be getting back from a long trip on hot, dirty, and uncomfortable transportation. You might just look down one day and realize that you are not so clean yourself, so smile and shake hands with the scruffy among us. Jesus might not have lumped the crusty in with the peacemakers and the meek in that famous sermon, but you can be sure that in this particular situation he would have praised their courage and determination, if not their odor.
Amen, brother!
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