We hear about the affects of drought devastating regions like Somalia. Environmentalists and more recently politicians have been discussing the emerging water crisis. There has even been speculation that water will be the cause of the next world war.
Over 70% of our bodies consist of water. Water exists in every living thing.
· Nearly one billion people lack access to safe water and 2.5 billion do not have improved sanitation. The health and economic impacts are staggering
· 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
· Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease
· In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed for the most basic of human needs-collecting water for domestic use
· A [person] who takes a five minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day
When I arrived in Uganda, I had no idea how inconvinent it would be to live with modest water restrictions. You cannot drink the water out of the taps (bottled water only), you must boil water to cook with and do NOT open your mouth in the shower.
By week three I was a bit irritated by it. Then on my way to Kabale, a remote region in the South-West of Uganda, I watched person after person collect water from the gutter alongside the road. One child could not have been more than 5 or 6 and just stuck her hand into the gutter and thirstily slurped it up.
Water is a basic human right. 90% of all deaths caused by diarrheal disease are children under 5 years of age, mostly in developing countries. http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
The impacts of water constraints “stress” or “scarcity” affects everything we do. Children miss school during drought or sue to water-related illness. Parents must care for sick children and are unable to work or are themselves ill and unable to work or care for their children. Livestock and agriculture are destroyed affecting already limited nutritional intakes and the economy suffers further. Mass populations are forced to migrate to find water, shelter, food and security that water provides. And it is always the poorest and most vulnerable who suffer the most.
Conserving water is not a “conscious” or “considerate” thing to do. It is the moral thing to do. It is the responsibility of all human beings to consider the impacts of our actions on our neighbours, no matter how far away they may be. And in reality, this issue is closer to home than we might think.
I am as guilty as the next person. I had no idea how important water was except what I heard. And what I heard did not stop me from taking that extra 5 minutes in the shower.
I believe that we are good people. We just need to think harder about what we are doing.
If you need to see it to believe it, look into the situation in Somalia as we speak.
One thing I value that I did not before coming to Uganda. Water. I do not know why it took so long to register in my mind set. But it has now.
