Privatizing water has taken the world by storm. How many people would rather pay for cases of bottled water than take it from their tap? How many communities are deprived of water because a corporation moves in to contain and sell their water? The situations are similar to what happens here in the US and what is happening across Africa. The greatest new commodity essential to life in the world is a bottle of water. This is no more evident in the US where we are so caught up in the corporate farce that we prefer the tastes of different waters - or so we think. Here is also comes with the idea that it is safer, cleaner, and healthier to drink bottled water as opposed to tap water. ABC news presented a special on the myths of bottled water. The leading expert, used by the bottled water companies, said that there was no reason to say either tap or bottled water was better than the other. The also conducted a taste test with NYC tap water and five other bottled waters, including the top selling, french Evian. Tap water ranked fairly high at #3 with a bottled water and Evian ranked at the very bottom as the least good tasting water sample.

What is wrong with this picture? In the US we would rather pay five dollars for a gallon of water than drink the great tap water that is virtually free? How can this happen when there is such a huge scarcity of water in the world. Over 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to clean, safe water to drink. We are talking about any drinkable water at all - but we would rather complain about taste and healthiness. In 2002, the Copenhagen Consensus determined that it was a government's responsibility to ensure the right to water for all citizens. Sadly this has not been the case in far too many developing countries. So if the public sector fails to ensure the right to water, can the private sector fill the gap?

From Reason Magazine: "Contractors often drive tankers to poor districts, selling water by the can, in which case the very poorest of the world's inhabitants are already exposed to market forces but on very unfair terms, because water obtained like this is on average twelve times more expensive than water from regular water mains, and often still more expensive than that." Many times whole water supply and treatment systems are sold to private corporations. However, well many times privatization creates a price increase for a minority of people already connected to an ineffective government water system, a greater number of people without access to water are served. There are plenty of examples to argue both for and against water privatization. In the long-term, as with most development policies, when privatization is implemented correctly with the majority of people in focus then it works as a positive. Many activists de-cry water privatization as an evil and it can be. The new fear is the great "corporate water grab." Just as with oil, policies need to be created to make sure the needs of people are met, not just business interests. In many African countries it is too late and privatization has taken a negative toll on the poor's ability to access water.

As far as bottled water, just stop buying it. This drives up the cost of water and its increased privatization as well as created more pollution. Re-use a water container and drink the beautiful water from your tap.

From the When not in Africa. . . blog.

Launched in September at Michigan Technological University (MTU) with the Michigan Organization of Residence Halls Associations (MORHA).

Charity:Water and S.C.O.U.T. B.A.N.A.N.A. believe that access to clean water is a basic human right, and this year, 2007, we are doing something about it. Charity:Water was founded in 2006 and since has provided people with clean drinking water through construction and rehabilitation projects on wells. Through on-the-ground organizations Charity:Water has built 158 wells in five African countries that will give close to 100,000 people clean drinking water. S.C.O.U.T. B.A.N.A.N.A. is an organization dedicated to providing access to basic healthcare. Access to clean water is extremely important to being and staying healthy as 80% of all sickness is due to unsafe water. In Michigan, we take for granted that we are surrounded by the world’s largest source of freshwater. The Great Lakes hold enough water for each of the 300 million people of the US to have 19 million gallons of water. Between 2000 and 2004, Michigan increased its water use by 1 billion gallons per day (gpd), to almost 11 billion gpd, or 4 trillion gallons per year, with 81% being withdrawn by power plants. This is enough to cover the entire land area of Michigan with 4 inches of water. 89% of water withdrawn in Michigan comes from Great Lakes sources. The remaining 11% comes from inland surface and groundwater sources (DEQ 2004 Report). There is a term in water management known as "unaccounted for" water. This is treated water that leaks from faulty pipes and is completely wasted. This water, ready for usage, that leaks from pipes every year in Detroit alone would be enough to give every person in the combined countries of the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, and Uganda with 297 gallons of treated water. (www.uswaternews.com, August 2002). In Africa just $20 can give a person clean water for 20 years. The estimated cost of the leak is $23 million worth of water that never reaches homes and businesses, this could provide over one million people with the clean water they so desperately need.

Charity:Water Facts
• Over 1.1 billion people on the planet do not have access to clean drinking water.
• 42,000 people will die this week from disease related to poor drinking water. 90 percent of them will be children under age 5.
• A child dies from unsafe water every 15 seconds.
• 80 percent of all sickness on the planet is caused by unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation. It kills 2.2 million people every year. That’s more than all forms of violence, including war.
• Millions of women in developing countries walk 3 miles every day, to get water is likely to make them sick.

Bobi, Uganda
The first six wells built and rehabilitated by Charity:Water were in the war-torn region of northern Uganda. In the village of Bobi, 31,000 people now have access to clean water. Here is the story from Charity:Water founder, Scott Harrison.
“20 years of war displaced nearly two million people in Northern Uganda. Seeking solace from Joseph Kony’s rebel soldiers, they gathered in camps for safety. Bobi is the largest IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp in the Gulu Province. When I visited in August, I found 31,638 people living there. They drank from only one working well. On October 24th our partners on the ground in Northern Uganda used those contributions to begin work in Bobi. The rehabilitation of 3 broken hand pumps and 3 newly constructed wells were completed in November. Water committees were formed and trained to maintain the new water sources. The wells have transformed the lives of the 31,638 men, women and children living there. Bobi, one of the most hopeless and depressing places I’ve ever visited in Africa, now looks to the future with hope and health.”

Uganda Facts
(CIA, The World Factbook)
• Slightly smaller than Oregon with a population of over 30,250,000.
• Life expectancy at birth is approximately 52 years.
• The high rates of HIV/AIDS have significantly increased mortality, impacting life expectancy and population.
• There is a very high risk for contracting waterborne diseases including: bacterial infections, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever.
• 35% of the population lives below the poverty line with average income at $1,500.
• The country hosts over 250,000 refugees from Sudan, the DRC, and Rwanda, along with 1 million internally displaced peoples (IDPs).
• Agriculture employs 80% of the workforce. The major export of the country is coffee.

To Fetch A Pail of Water
Of all the water on earth, 97.5% is salt water. The remaining 2.5% is fresh water, 70% is frozen in the polar ice caps and the other 30% is soil moisture or lies in underground aquifers. In all, less than 1% of the world’s fresh water is readily accessible for direct use. Moreover, there is a natural inequity in resource distribution that allows some countries to be rich in water, while others struggle.

Mission: To combine efforts with commitment and determination to save lives in Africa, more specifically to promote and support community based projects and initiatives in Africa including but not limited to, fighting preventable diseases, providing a secure source for food and clean water, improving child and maternal health, and sponsoring community health-worker trainings.

Proposition: The crisis of access to basic healthcare in Africa is dire. Millions of people go day-to-day without the basic necessities to live. Clean water, food, medicine, health – everyone should have to access to what they need to live happily and healthily in the world. S.C.O.U.T. B.A.N.A.N.A. recognizes this crisis and understands the fact that whether you live in Africa or America, everyone is affected and linked by the global health crisis. The great passion of youth in the Western world will be our greatest inspiration. This organization will work to be a resource for students and youth who want to make a difference in the world by supporting their projects, programs they identify, or organizations they know. Individuals with a cause will be our greatest allies in creating a positive solution for the global health crisis. This organization believes that everyone has the potential to make a difference in the world. Along with that idea accompanies the belief that the challenge of providing access to basic healthcare is not overwhelming when efforts are combined.

Goals: This organization will seek to –
1. Provide 'individuals with causes' with the resources, support, and knowledge necessary to make a difference.
2. Find searchers, those people who effectively create sustainable change and provide aid for those in need.
3. Focus on individuals, it is not the numbers and statistics – it is about each and every face behind the numbers; giving a face to the statistics, If you have influenced or have saved just one life, then you have made a difference.
4. Inspire those with the access and ability to make a difference. Everyone is a hero and heroes come in all forms, from all walks of life, everyone has the potential to make a difference.
5. Invest in people affected by the global health crisis and those inspired by it, we will not be just another organization that throws money at problems to attempt a solution.
6. Denounce obstacles. Obstacles are a given, they will come and this organization will be prepared to face them.

Join us on:
Facebook
MySpace
Future5000
Idealist
TakingITGlobal

The blog that used to be hosted at this url still exists. However, it now resides at: When not in Africa. . ..

The content and purpose is the same, just a new url. Be sure to check it out as the author is studying and traveling in Ghana this summer.

April 25th, the first US Malaria Awareness Day. An award winning photographer, Chien-Chi Chang, traveled to Uganda to give image to the story that is very often never heard, to give a face to the people who are never seen. This is not just another award winning privileged person traveling to get pictures or a story because these images and story are accompanied by a call for action. The images were used to raise awareness and promote involvement with Malaria No More. This is an organization that is fueled by celebrity involvement and received great attention from American Idol, but this is an issue and conflict that does not require you to be a celebrity to make a difference. Everyone is a celebrity in their own right.

On the BBC's news forum where people can write in their thoughts, many people called for a change in government actions and in people's actions. Governments need to provide more funding for their health sectors and people need to depend less on their governments. I would add that we here need to understand that governments are not the ones who will make the greatest impact, when individuals support other individuals more lives will be saved.

In her blog, Acumen Fund Fellow, Keely Stevenson, writes about a socially responsible company in Tanzania working to provide bed nets. AtoZ uses a simplified, cheaper manufactoring process to make more bed nets for less. The company then charges a nominal fee to get the bed nets to people who will actually use them. Many times when organizations just hand out bed nets they end up as fishing nets or table cloths, but when there is a small fee - people who actually want them to use them will be supplied with them. This has been credited with bringing malaria deaths down in Tanzania.

Malaria is a preventable disease that claims the lives of over one million people, 90% of them in Africa. Using a bed net is said to reduce a pregnant woman's birth complications and potential miscarriages by one third. A treated bed net costs about $4 and can save the lives of so many people is it is used. There have been numerous studies on the impact of malaria on mothers, children, and others - but the simple and known truth is that using a treated bed net can save your life and your family's. There is no reason that malaria should kill so many people each year, our government should be stepping up its efforts, governments in Africa need support so that they can support their health sectors, and we here need to step up our efforts. Making bed nets more available and more affordable is the answer to a preventable disease without a cure.

Read up on malaria here.