Global Water Crisis is Topic of NCC Discussion
By Myra Saturen
September 07, 2010
"Water is life," said Kenyan businessman Peter Njenas at a discussion of water and peace at NCC on Sept. 7. And yet, in many places around the world, water can never be taken for granted; one in eight people lack access to safe water supplies, every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related illness, and, at any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases such as typhoid and cholera, associated with lack of access to safe drinking water.
Caroline Verkaik, Njenas' daughter and a former Mrs. Kenya, described her youth in a place where clean water is scarce. Although she grew up in a relatively prosperous home, the farm she lived on had no running water. Her mother washed the family's clothes in a river, and healthful water was so precious that drinking a glass of it equaled an indulgence. And, as they do today, women risked their safety carrying water from distant wells, up to five miles away. Many children contract dangerous waterborne diseases.
Out of these experiences and observations, Verkaik developed a passion for helping her nation achieve a healthful water supply, and she used her Mrs. Kenya title as a platform for raising awareness of the water crisis.
Other activists are using their channels to address the water emergency. Kiwanis Club of the Stroudsburgs member Michael Frailey brought some singular facts to the audience's attention: one billion people lack clean water. One dollar will provide safe drinking water for a person in Africa for one year. In one minute, four people die from a waterborne disease.
Carole Ann Bowyer, a businesswoman and board member of the United Way of Monroe County, talked about a recent information-gathering trip to Kenya. She marveled at the country's beauty, enjoyed the hospitable people, and returned determined to help. Toward this end, she is initiating "Winners for Wells, Saving Lives One Well at a Time," a fundraising project to begin in April 2011. The first goal of the project will be to build a well in her friend Caroline Verkaik's Kenyan hometown.
Reverend Steve Sayer, pastor at the Reformed Church of Bushkill, saw signs of water shortage as soon as he arrived in Kenya this summer. "I saw donkeys hauling jugs of water up hills, schoolchildren lugging water to their schools, someone driving a motorcycle draped in jugs." Members of Sayer's church have set up a plastic tank with the capacity to collect and store 400 gallons from rainwater.
Consciousness of the water crisis is growing. In July, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right.
Water is also an ingredient in world stability. "Water is a force for world peace," said Associate Professor of Political Science Kiki Anastasakos. A finite resource, 2/3 of the globe's water is locked into glaciers. Competition for this sparse water can be the tinder that sparks violent conflict.
"We know there is a problem," Anastasakos said. "What do we do about it?"
The water and peace event was a step toward resolution. It was the first in a series of events focusing on the global water crisis. Sponsored by the NCC Forum on Peace, Justice and Conflict Resolution, the Model U.N. Club and the Political Science Club, today's discussion kicked off a project to raise funds to build more wells in Kenya.