Imagine that when you woke up today, before logging online to check email or read this post you had to walk a mile or more, wait in line with as many buckets as you could carry, fill them with whatever water you can find, and haul the 50 pounds or so of water you collected back to your house, splashing on your face and up your arms with each step. It's the only water you and your family will have for the rest of the day. You'll bathe from these buckets, wash your clothes, cook your food, and drink whatever water you need to survive. It's not exactly safe to drink and one of these days, it could kill you. But if you and your family don't drink it, you'll certainly die.
Happy World Water Day.
Today, almost one in eight people on the planet won't be able to secure even a glass of safe water to drink. More than twice as many people won't be able to experience the dignity of using a toilet. For women, this mostly means waiting until the cover of night to defecate which may provide some level of privacy but of course doesn't come without personal risk. They may sound unrelated but water and toilets couldn't be more linked.
March 22 marks the 19th anniversary of World Water Day, a day designated by the United Nations to drive attention to and action against the global water and sanitation crisis. Most people reading this post are not aware of the significance of this day. It's hard to relate when you have water at the turn of the tap, the option to buy bottled water at the 7-11 down the block, and can access a toilet within 100 yards most anywhere you go.
We're here to change that.
We at Water.org envision a world where everyone can drink safe water and access a toilet. We also see a world where our collective consciousness rejects the inhumanity of it all. It's entirely possible to solve this crisis.
We've known how to make water safe and to eradicate water-related diseases in the U.S. for more than a century. Yet, today diarrhea alone is the second-leading cause of death in children under five. It kills 1.5 million children a year -- more children than malaria, AIDS, and measles combined. Imagine if, today, we discovered the cure for AIDS -- and a century later children were still dying because we couldn't figure out a way to deliver it. We need to deliver water and sanitation solutions more quickly. The time is now.
This week, you can do something to help. It's simple, and it takes less than three minutes -- Donate your voice. Because while donating dollars is critical, driving awareness is equally important. How can we fix a problem if most people don't even know it exists?
Everyone has a voice, a community, an audience, an influence. In the age of Facebook and Twitter, more than 800 million people have become producers, curators, and advocates --dictating what's trending and what's not. This week, amplify your voice. Make the fight for water and sanitation for all THE global, human cause. We've made it easy.
Go to Waterday.org and follow the one-step instructions to donate your voice. By donating your Facebook or Twitter credentials, Water.org will automatically post a fact to your account and invite your friends and followers to join you. Each day, through March 24 only, your community will automatically receive a fact or story, shared by you. This is your chance to use your platform for good and help lead the way to solving the global clean water crisis.
Katherine Marshall: World Water Day: A Call to Faith
Raising awareness of suffering is good, but we need to go deeper. We need to understand what is at the root of all suffering. The "good" of suffering is that it brings us to question why, as in: Why is there so much suffering in the world? Once we have that question, we will begin to search for an answer.
Already it is clear that we can no longer relate to each other in a good and kind way. There are plenty of examples of this, from breakdowns in family relationships, to school shootings, even the preference for more distant forms of communication (Facebook, etc.) Have we just accepted these changes in relationships as the new normal? Perhaps we should consider that what's out of balance is something on a higher level than, for example, climate change; namely, our attitudes towards each other.
In order for kind and caring relationships to emerge, an integral education is necessary. Such an education would emphasize inner change versus a potpourri of "fixes" here and there. When this happens, the water shortages will be resolved through a sense of obligation that comes from awareness of the network that connects us all.
We used to believe creating an infrastructure that provided the basic necessities for every human being to ‘live well and prosper,’ was a noble goal that produced numerous benefits to society on the whole. Now that’s just a Vulcan thing.
Access to clean water changes everything. It stems death and disease, it grows crops, it allows us to focus our energies on bigger things, it provides people with some dignity.
Small minds are closed in by borders; lines on a map that imagine a you / and a me. Imagine a common goal for every nation, every person, on the planet. If aliens invaded would we unite against them, or just fight amongst ourselves? This is not utopian; it’s fundamental reality.
Imagine what a ‘big thing’ might look like today. I see abundant, affordable, clean water for every person on the planet. I see crops thriving on the Sahara. Water is life.
We have the technology. The Romans were water transport experts. We lack the will to make the investment. I’ll admit it’s not as flashy, but I bet it’s cheaper than going to the moon. Defer the costs until benefits kick in; then spread them across the globe.
Link these things together in your mind: desalination, purification, and transport pipelines. Hit the easy button. Imagine the return.
Consider this, one of the biggest threats from global warming is rising oceans. Suppose we were desalinating and removing billions of gallons a day from them.
I have heard Damon raise his about the President in strident ways, and for me the sound of his voice discolors whatever project or product he is associated with in the future. I do not want to hear a thing he has to say, or be associated with any project he is interested in. These feelings are a direct result of what he has said and how he has said it.
What you say is important. The way you say it is important as well.
I am thrilled that Chequita Lockley, the Creative Programming Director at Impact Church, produced a song available on ITunes. The proceeds from that song go to building wells in Africa. Because of this, I am free to disregard what that other person says as I have a personal intersection with the water problem covered.
What he said and how he said it got on my nerves. It is unusual for me to have such strong feelings about a commenter. What he said filled me with disgust, and I do not want to hear him say or do another thing.
Matt Demon did not have the best of intentions for President Obama. It is ironic that you say "if someone is trying to do good for the masses, you have to be willing to overlook a few things" for Demon, while you are fully aware that he did not have the same consideration for President Obama.