Ellie's Blog

My Final Post

ellberry — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:30:16 +0000

During this project I have learned that not having clean water effects not only health but other aspects of life as well. Many women and children have to spend hours of each day walking to a water source or waiting in line at a well. Oftentimes, children cannot go to school because they have to spend so much time collecting water. I was astonished that if current rates of water consumption continue, some places like Sana, Yemen will be left without water in the not-so-distant future. I also did not realize how large of a role water could play in causing global conflicts. Negotiating how water is shared between countries is going to become very important for peace and stability. However, I also learned that developments in technology are helping more people have clean water. There are solar-powered purification systems, water bottles that effectively purify water, and solar and wind powered water pumps. Currently, clean water is not available in adequate amounts to one billion people, but this number can be lowered.

This project has definitely made me more aware of my own water usage. I will try to consume less, not only water but other products as well, to decrease my own “water footprint.” I would really like to see the right to water be recognized internationally. I am also thinking about the best way I could donate time and/or money because I want to make a difference. I can say honestly that creating this blog has made me more interested in the water crisis. Insufficient access to safe, clean water is an issue that I will continue to pay attention to in the future.

charity: water

ellberry — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:04:49 +0000

We watched this video in my Q-Class while learning about NGO’s and it happened to relate perfectly to my blog project. I thought this video was really inspiring. Charity: water has helped nearly a million people just because a few people decided that something in the world was unfair and wanted to change it. This video makes me believe that solving the water crisis is not beyond our reach; the video lists simple solutions like drilling and digging wells, protecting mountain springs, and collecting rain water. It depends on individuals choosing to try to make a difference.

Third Blog Comment Link

ellberry — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:02:09 +0000

http://gcotton.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/breaking-news-volume-3/

General Comment No. 15

ellberry — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:51:05 +0000

One approach to the water crisis that I have not found in any “breaking news” articles but that I have found websites about is making the accesss to water a human right. In 2002, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released “General Comment No. 15″ which says that water is a human right and that everyone should have “sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water.” Around 30 countries recognize the human right to water, but the U.S. is not among them. Instead, the U.S. classifies water as “a basic human need.” The U.S. is not legally bound to do anything about the water problem. In South Africa, sufficient access to water is a part of the Constitution, and the government has been taking steps to expand access to clean water to its citizens. I hope that the U.S. will recognize clean water as a human right. I know that this does not automatically fix the problem, but it shows acceptance that lack of access to clean water is a serious problem and that water should be protected because it belongs to all of us.

Links to Q-Class Blog Comments

ellberry — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:59:07 +0000

http://qclass.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/google-earth/

http://amfite.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/hello-world/

Water in the Headlines?

ellberry — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:49:17 +0000

A difficult part of this project has been finding current events. Clean water is not exactly something that is considered breaking news or makes the headlines every night. I was able to find articles about regions that are currently suffering from water crises like Yemen, Malawi, Lesotho, and the Middle East. Celebrity involvement helped bring clean water into the headlines and recently released reports about water availability or new technology also made it into the news. Finding breaking news was challenging because access to clean water is an issue that is not new. It has been a problem for many years and will probably continue to affect people for years to come. For those of us who have no doubts about having clean water every day, there is no sense of immediate danger. And although we may be aware of the problem, it is easy to put it on the back burner. We do not see news stories everyday about the people who constantly strive to have a decent amount of clean water.

Purification Technology

ellberry — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:14:11 +0000

I found several news articles this week about different ways to purify water like the solar powered systems that were sent to Iraq and the arsenic removal plants being used in India. This video presents a third method: a water bottle that can be used to purify water. The video shows that the technology is unique becasue very small bacteria are removed that other systems could not trap. I was shocked while watching Michael Pritchard, the inventor of the “Lifesaver bottle,” pouring everything into the tank of water to make it dirty. It is hard to imagine that people actually have to drink water that is that contaminated.

It is amazing that something as small as this water bottle could help save so many people’s lives. I like how Mr. Pritchard uses the phrase “thinking differently” to show that we do not have to accept things the way the are but can work to develop new creative solutions for water sanitation.

Solving the Water Crisis from Space?

ellberry — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:06:40 +0000

This week I found recent articles that described two separate instances in which celebrities were trying to raise awareness about the water crisis. One that I thought was really bizarre was Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte broadcasting a show about water from the International Space Station. It is difficult for me to make a connection between this and the article I read about people struggling to pay for water in Yemen, which is exactly the kind of situation Laliberte probably wanted to make people think about. We need to focus on (sorry for the pun) “down-to-earth” solutions instead of looking to the stars.

Water in the Middle East

ellberry — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:57:34 +0000

Last week, my breaking news articles focused on access to clean drinking water in Africa. This week, two of the articles I chose discussed water availability in the Middle East. Water availability is a global issue and not just limited to one area of the world. Although poorer countries seem to have more difficulty dealing with managing water, as shown by the article about Yemen, the article about the Arab Water Academy showed that even relatively wealthy Middle Eastern countries still must deal with a decreasing amount of water due to population growth and the effects of climate change. I also came across the term “hydrodiplomacy” in one article ( http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=31&article_id=107409 ) about the relationship between stability and water security in the Middle East. While negotiating agreements about sharing water is not going to be the solution to the conflict between Israel and Arab states, conflict over a limited amount of water will only destabilize the region and should be addressed before it threatens the possibility of peace.

Sharing Water

ellberry — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:08:43 +0000

I was reading Thomas Friedman’s book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” for another class when I came across something that reminded me of my blog project. In one section of the book, Friedman discusses how global warming is making less water available becasue it affects the amount of water released when glaciers go through an annual melting period. Friedman notes that this creates rivals becasue people have to figure out how to share a decreasing amount of water. He talks to a climate expert Joseph Romm who says that “the word ‘rival’ actually comes from people who share the same river.” This shows that water is a very valuable resource and conflict can arise in how it is shared. The news article about water in Lesotho showed that water is such a valuable commodity in Southern Africa that revenue from selling water makes up 75% of Lesotho’s budget. What I’ve seen from this example is that when it comes to “sharing” water, it is often the people that can pay the most that are able to have their water needs met.