I also realized that I needed to adapt to very different social and cultural dynamics. I could no longer be a detached entity, solely focused on finishing the project. I had to develop an understanding of what it meant to live without what many of us regard as our basic human rights, such as access to clean water, waste and sewer systems, and medical care. I saw what it was like to have to drink salty and contaminated water, burn trash every dusk and dawn, feel embarrassed about using open land as toilet with no privacy, or have to commute 70km to reach the closest hospital.
