Yesterday when I woke up there was no water.
Yes, as soon as I got out of my bed I went to the kitchen. Next, I grabbed a glass as I was willing to get some water (an habit I got in order to refresh my first thoughts of the morning)…but nothing came out.
The end of the world? No…not yet.
Okay…maybe I was overreacting. This might be a problem that will get fixed in a couple of minutes, I thought to myself. So I went back to bed for a moment, and I fell asleep again.
Hours later, my alarm clock rang. I was ready to start my day and with it, the shower was waiting for me. Well, that was what I thought until I found out that it was impossible as there was no water running yet.
I had no water for a day. Apparently there was a problem with an apartment before and they had to fix some of the pipes of the building.
Later on that night, some drops of brown water came out of the sink. And then today, when I woke up I had clean water again. The normal routine for an average EU citizen.
It was difficult to live without water one day, but it was not impossible as you have a store close by, and a neighbour that is willing to help you in an emergency! But what happens If you don’t?
THINK ABOUT IT
Here I present you some facts you might not know, as the impact of today’s the lack of global water in some parts of the world is overwhelming:
* More than 3.5 million people die each year from water-related disease; 84 percent are children. Nearly all deaths, 98 percent, occur in the developing world.
* Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.
* Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection.
* Millions of women and children spend several hours each day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school.
* 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness.
Source: water.org
There is a picture that I believe I could relate to this post, and that cause a big impact on me:
Michael Freeman's picture shows two african boys driking water through some special plastic tubes, in order to prevent getting guinea worm disease.
And I was complaning for not having clean water only one day...
(Andrea Arzaba, July 2010)
it’s good that the progress has been made. In Sub-Saharan Africa in 1990 49% of population has the access to safe water, not it is 58%. It measn 207 milion people.
‘The average routine for an EU citizen’ is that we expect clean water to be available at all times. We’re so used to it that we panic if we lack it for a few hours…
I remember being out in the middle of nowhere in Western Zambia close to the Angola border. I was thirsty like hell and had no water on me anymore. In the end it got so bad that I decided to drink from a muddy pool next to the road. I took the risk of disease simply to quench my thirst. It made me experience what millions of people go through everyday, and I never forgot the experience (now 19 years ago)... And I didn’t get the runs…
The situation you described is the same situation that many people in Jordan face 6 days a week…
nice pics btw
No water for a day… Imagine what happens in “the West” if suddenly there is no water for a day, no food in the supermarket, no money to buy it anyways, no aspirin to calm the headache down… This old rule that we want what we don’t have and we don’t cherish what we do have is so true, isn’t it.
I asked my friend to imagine what it would be like if suddenly there was no water available. She said she couldn’t. And wouldn’t.
Nice post, Andrea. We have always to remember of such situation before complaining. We’re extremely lucky.
@Bart, thanks for telling us of your experience. Shocking…
Besides, it is a very human characteristic to think it will be provided whenever we want. Take a look at this great editorial post on this topic: http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/editorial/unbelievable_lebanon/
“Lebanon is indeed wonderland. Not because it’s your dream country, but by being able to support all this luxury with the lack of resources that we, Europeans, take for granted. What do I mean by this?”
@Hussam, you may like it.
@ Bart: Well…this experience is something you will always remember! And that in a way everyone should have in order to realize how LUCKY we are to have clean water everyday! In other communities they have to walk kilometers to get to a lake or to a well in order to get water! I remember carrying it once, in the middle of winter in a mayan community in Mexico…at 6 am…..something I will never forget either!
@Hussam: YEs! Shocking huh? This happens in developing world countries everywhere!
@ Giedre: Take her to an indigenous community for a weekend! Even If she says she couldn’t u would see how she would
I wonder if the bottle from Luan’s post would help the brown colour of the water…
http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/index.php/think3/post/a_truly_revolution_in_the_access_to_clean_drinking_water/
?
Thanks for this post Andrea. Here in the Philippines, we also have a water shortage. Will blog about it in the coming days. Hopefully.
Let me add that the photo is just so telling.
@Helena, as far as I know, the lifesaver bottle would help in it.
The photos are indeed fabulous.
@ EVERYBODY: Thank you guys! And you should really do this exercise….try to live without clean water for a day, or at least everytime you use it imagine what would you do if you didn’t have it in a few seconds….where would you get it from? WOuld you still take more than 15 minutes showering? How would you wash your dishes?
Huuummmm interesting questions huh?
@Luan: thanks for the link
Great post, especially the last photograph. I drink buckets of water a day and would go nuts without it. It’s the one thing I could not bear to live without.
good news from UN coming today http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35456&Cr=SANITATION&Cr1;=
Iwona, indeed interesting and important!
Very important indeed.
Equally important is one thing still untold about this: it was a proposal that came from Bolivia. Incredible, isn’ it?
It was not a developed country initiative…it was an underdeveloped country, totally aware of its situation.
What changes with this decision? It deserves a post, guys.
Here for you to check out: http://twitter.com/BoliviaUN
WOW LUAN! CLEAN WATER IS INDEED A HUMAN RIGHT!!!!!! This is such an interesting proposal. Thank you Bolivia!
Gives Thanks! I asked for this just 2 short months early on fantastic of the proposition forums….Thanks Thanks Thanks!
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