Washed the dishes. I suddenly recalled an official road trip to Legazpi City that I made with an Embassy driver--Oscar, who's passed away--many years ago. Noontime caught us midway on our journey and we decided to stop and eat at a very rustic, roadside cantina. They had no running water there. When I had to wash my hands at the batalan, a girl gently poured water on my hands from a dipper so that I could rinse them of soap.

Thousands of people are washing their hands this way now, in Metro Manila.