Description: A young girl getting water from a local river in Africa.
Link: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol21no3/213-water.html
Summary:
Like many young girls, this girl has to trek 2 kilometers(1.25 miles) to get water for cooking, drinking, bathing, and for livestock. This family is lucky then access to the clean water of the river, unlike some Africans who do not have access to any clean water. More that half of the families that live in the rural parts of Africa do not have access to clean water for bathing, drinking, cooking, or livestock. And for those families who do not get the clean water they often have to have very unhealthy water. These waters have many chemicals in them that are bad for the body. UNICEF helps villages in Africa to build wells or other ways to get water for these families. Africa has an abundant amount of fresh water; there are lakes big rivers, vast wetlands, and widespread ground waters. But at the moment only about 4 percent is being used.
Opinion:
I think that it is a good thing that UNICEF is taking action to help the people of Africa. It is sad that many people have to trek very far just to get water. Or that some families do not even have access to clean water. In class we learned that there can be a lot of chemicals in water. Also there can be a lot of deadly chemical in the water if they are not filtered out. They wouldn't die right after drinking them it would get them sick over a long period of drinking that water.
Questions:
Is there a program to help get water from those fresh water areas?
What is stopping people from using the other 96% of the fresh water in Africa?
What precautions have been made to help Africans get cleaner water?
Opinion/Reaction: Every time I see something about people in other countries not having access to clean water, I'm surprised and astonished at the same time. Like the video we watched in class mentioned, water is a basic human right. Everybody should be able to access fresh, safe water at their need. But the reality is, many countries do not have the luxuries we do. Like UNICEF is doing, we should help these people as much as we can. If all of us cared enough to help, I bet we could get all the families in Africa fresh water.
ReplyDeleteAnswers to one of the questions:
"Is there a program to help get water from those fresh water areas?"
I looked online and found many sites with programs that help people in Africa get access to fresh water. One of those sites is http://thewaterproject.org/programs.asp
This site shows you ways you can help and pictures and stories of already completed projects. There are five different programs that are currently running. One of those programs is in Kenya. They are trying to build wells at schools, churches, and community centers. You can help by donating money.
Opinion: I think that this is horrible. Water is a necessity for life and everyone should have access to it, hopefully clean. We should run a program to raise money to get water filtering equipment to clean the water. The UNICEF program they have is a very good thing, they need to make it more known so hopefully people will participate in it.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
1) would it be beneficial to have a drive and get things to carry the water in with wheels so it is at least easier?
2) Can the Red Cross or a program like that give them resources to help with the medical things that happen from the water?
3) do they use water bottles there, if not can we give them the resources to make water bottles?
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteI am horrified that children this young have to walk out of their own home to get clean water. As we've learned in class, some children have to walk even farther than this girl to get to water that isn't even clean. I believe that each of the more priveledged people of the world should devote at least a few dollars and a few minutes of their time to helping people like this.
I think that the answer to Drew's second question is that the other 96% of freshwater is either nearly impossible to get to, or that it is obvious by the look or smell that the water is very unhealthy to use.
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteIt's super not OK that these people, children especially have to walk such a distance just to get water. Here we can take a few steps and have access to unlimited fresh water. Mega uncool. It seems that there's a whole bunch of programs to send food to Africa, it should be to send water to Africa. Pretty backwards. We should get on that.
Expansion:
This article tells how it's mostly the women's job to go get the water.
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/the_need/206.asp
More Questions:
Are there any local programs to send water to Africa?