Water.... The Next Gold

                                                    WATER THE NEXT GOLD
I will never be able to erase from my mind’s eye the striking images and constant stream of people balancing huge yellow containers (jerrycans) of water on the back roads of Uganda. Myrna, Jay and I  were off to see the famous mountain gorillas at the Biwindi Reserve in the Virunga mountains of Uganda. Amos our guide and driver, was recovering from a bout with malaria, his medication made him sleepy, he swerved off the road now and then, but he forced himself to stay awake. The feeling was surreal, as masses of jerrycan carriers dodged the oncoming land rovers.

One young man struggling with his bike, made an everlasting impression on me. He had filled his jerrycan from the local river and was pushing his bike back home up a one thousand foot incline. His torn plaid shirt was hanging off one shoulder, sweat beaded off his brow, and with a determined haunting stare, balanced the 4 tied jerrycans on the bike and forged his way up the hill in the boiling heat. Depending on the village, another way to obtain water involves walking for 20 minutes or riding a bike to a water fill station. At the station women and children sometimes stand for hours to fill their jerrycans. Most of the small children had smiles of curiosity on their faces as I pointed my camera, while the older ones had a look of indifference, and hopelessness. Where was the water? No one was passing out anything-just standing, waiting, maybe the pump was broke or a truck was bringing them the substance of life.

Each jerry can weighs approximately 44 lbs, and to see small children sling these over their shoulders, or wedge them on their sides as they walked was unsettling. Back home in the United States we take water for granted. I think nothing of taking a ten-minute shower, or running water while I brush my teeth.

In Uganda 36 of the 112 districts in March of 2011 were faced with water and food shortages due to La Nina the weather phenomenon. And the infrastructure to deliver water is basically non-existent in rural communities. Until Uganda develops a comprehensive water delivery system the rural communities have to rely on wells and muddy river waters that abound with bacteria during storm runoffs. The availability of affordable water will be a game changer for developing countries.

The human race is currently adding 203,000 people to planet every single day, that is a net gain of 1 million added to the planet every 5 days. Although the population rate is declining, most of the gain is in developing countries like Uganda. And at this rate the world population is expected to approach 9 billion, the earth’s carrying capacity according to E.O. Wilson by the year 2050. This a gain of 2 billion people, nearly a 30% gain in 38 years. This population increase is the underpinning problem for the use of our natural resources.
So addressing the water issue is a step in the right direction.

 We can all be involved and there are a few water projects in place that are working to help deliver safe, clean water. One organization that my former students donated to supports clean water, stopping the spread of diseases and the availability of contraceptives is PSI: http://www.psi.org/ They distribute water in 18 countries and is the world’s largest distributor. The disinfecting solution is produced locally and is part of a sustainable program for the country.

I’ve donated to a water project that is sponsored by a non-profit organization based out of England called Busgoa Trust: http://www.busogatrust.co.uk/ Busgoa uses 94% the donations to dig wells and only 6% for adminstrative costs. They have sponsored the digging of over 2000 wells in Uganda since 1982 and have helped more than 1 million people.