Saturday, May 5, 2012

Why Seek Freshwater Abundance? To Better Lives of More Others!

A reason why we talk so much about a crisis in freshwater is our desire to better the lives of our fellow human beings whose life revolves around the collection and transportation of freshwater to the extent that they have little time in a day to accomplish anything else
The 60+ billion hour annual investment
Women Carrying Water in Tanzania
Source - news.bbc.co.uk
A major impediment to success for many women and children around the globe is the time they spend on freshwater collection - a time they could be spending in school or working at a job or earning additional income or spending quality time with their families.
In Africa alone, it is estimated that over 40 billion hours are spent to transport freshwater from where it is available to where it is needed.
The 6+ miles of walk to and from where the freshwater is available not only take valuable time away from these women, but it also makes them vulnerable to physical attacks and the risk of harassment and sexual attacks while they are travelling through desolate places.
Children Transporting Water
Source - unep.org
For children too, getting the water where it is needed is a trek that makes them miss school and an education that might rescue them from poverty.
The age of many of these children is 10 or 11, when they start to take on the task of procuring water for their families.
The work is so treacherous for young children that they sometimes loose their footing while drawing water from a well and fall into the well.
The delivery of freshwater is a never-ending chore for may of the women and children e.g.in Niger, as 80% of the people have no running water connections, the task of collecting and bringing freshwater is a constant never-ending task.
Raising Living Standards for 500 million people
Source - advisorperspectives.com
An estimated 500 million people in the developing world are expected to join the affluent in the developed world. 
The more affluent a person or community is, the more freshwater she and the community will consume.
China is by far the leader in adding people to its Middle Class, followed by Russia, Brazil, Mexico and India.
Why Seek Freshwater Abundance?
With more freshwater available we are confident that unavailability will no longer hold people back from their potential.  This is one reason why any freshwater scarcity is a concern. 

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