For a child growing up in a place where water arrived only once every week or two, a few hours of running water could determine the rhythm of an entire household. Containers had to be filled quickly. Water had to last. Even an ordinary shower could become a luxury.
That was the childhood reality of Omar M. Yaghi, who was born in Amman, Jordan, in 1965 to Palestinian refugee parents. He grew up with his siblings in a single room without electricity or running water, according to the Nobel Prize's account of his early life. As a boy, he was responsible for collecting enough water to last until the next supply arrived.
