Water, Precious Water

-- Quote of the Day -- 

 

“The chosen heroes of this earth have been in a minority. 

There is not a social, political, or religious privilege that you enjoy today that was not bought for you by the blood and tears and patient suffering of the minority. 

It is the minority that have stood in the vain of every moral conflict and achieved all that is noble in the history of the world.”

~ John Bough  

 

 

-- Water for Africa -- 

 

 

* Article by: Damien Higgins writes for Eden Springs, which has partnered with People Help People to support three drinking water projects in Tanzania, Africa, which will help around 1,000 children get access to clean water. Eden plumbed water coolers supply clean water for home and office. 

 

While the Western world wastes water, it's left to charities to help those who lack this basic necessity.

Surely it is common sense that governments or private enterprises should supply safe drinking water to everyone around the world? Nevertheless, over 100 years after many major countries around the world installed their first plumbing systems, one in every eight people across the globe still do not have any access to safe drinking water.

These children pictured above are fetching water for their school, 

carrying it on their backs. 

 

About 20% of all deaths under the age of five are related in some way to a lack of water or water diseases. In developing nations, around 80% of illnesses are caused by poor water and terrible sanitation conditions.

Charities have found that for around the cost of £15, one person can have access to safe drinking water. It is the charities and not the governments that are collectively trying to change the fact that 90 million people in the world do not have daily access to a good quality water supply.

Water is scarce, yet it is wasted

When you are told that there might be a water shortage and that you might not be able to water your garden, people quickly start to save shower water in bottles so that they know they’ll have enough to water their favorite plants through the summer season. There is still plenty of water coming out of your tap for you to be able to drink and eat healthily, yet in other parts of the world water is extremely scarce and those people will wonder why people in developed countries throw away so much water and pay so much money to drink it from plastic bottles.

People in developed countries often do not understand the difficulties that some people have every single day by not having access to safe water. People may argue that their country has given money in aid to the governments of the under developed nations, but charities will be able to show you that sometimes the money doesn’t get released from governments to benefit the people that need a consistent water supply.

 Drinking precious water purchased in a plastic bag in Guinea, Africa

Understanding water scarcity

Water scarcity means that there is either a lack of enough water or a lack of access to safe water, not something that is easily understood in the Western world. In some parts of the world, the ways of finding reliable sources of safe water are both time-consuming and extremely expensive. This then causes an economic water scarcity as the water can be found, but the cost of raising the water to the surface is too much for the local people and presents a physical scarcity.

Charities and action

Charities are prepared to do more than simply raising money and sending it to a far-off country. Charity leaders have found that only by devoting their resources of skilled people backed by the money that has been raised, can they go into the areas where water is scarce and find different ways to supply it to the local people. In some countries it is only through the work of charities, that water is reaching villages that have never even seen a safe water supply before.

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