ABSTRACT
Amber Wutich first met Doa Paloma in 2004, when she was managing a team of researchers studying water insecurity in Villa Israel, a squatter settlement at the extreme southern end of the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The issue of water and mental health is just beginning to receive international attention. In contrast, the relationship between poverty and mental health is a central topic in global mental health research. Doa Paloma's story clearly shows that water vendors can cause uncertainty and emotional distress for urban clients. In both the Mexican and South African cases, psychosocial distress is borne of the twin stresses of water shortages and injustices in water distribution. The potential mental health implications deserve greater attention in the global health community, especially in light of "shaming interventions" that have been designed to stigmatize dirty people in order to increase hand-washing and sanitation in poor communities.
