World Water Day

...is this Saturday, March 22. It's a time to recognize that there is not enough clean water to go around. The Water Partners International site, reminds us that...

For most of us, it’s a short walk to the faucet in the kitchen, or bottled water in the refrigerator. But for more than a billion people – about one in six people on earth – getting safe water each day is no easy task. Women and children around the world walk 200 million hours every day for water – water that often comes from a polluted source.

Here in New Hampshire we hardly ever worry about having clean water to drink--we're only a short drive away from a supermarket, where, even in a local water crisis, we can purchase all the water we need. But imagine what it's like to not have safe drinkable water. Think of those who must struggle on a daily basis to obtain water to drink (never mind having enough water to wash your car or keep your lawn green). Let's be thankful for what we have--clean water may not always be available (look at the drought going on down in Georgia).

For an in-depth look at water, try these two titles:

De Villiers, Marq. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. [333.91 DEV]

Ward, Diane Raines. Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst. [333.91 WAR]

Water Partners is using a micro-finance program to provide water to citizens of the third world. Micro-finance has received a lot of publicity over the past several years, and deservedly so. The Nobel Peace Prize, in 2006, went to Muhammad Yunus, author of Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty [B YUN]. This site has more on micro-lending if you are interested.