Have you ever thought about what would happen if you didn’t have clean water in your home or dorms? Just recently, the main water pipe for the dorm buildings in Hillside and Susquehanna broke, leaving hundreds without access to water for an entire day. Imagine this happened across campus or even across the United States. No access to clean water in any way for years. While it may not be a major issue currently in our country, nations with high poverty have water that can cause life threatening diseases, if consumed. This is where Charity: Water comes in. After spending two years on a hospital ship near Liberia, Scott Harrison encountered the poor conditions of water, leading to the creation of Charity: Water in 2006. This organization strives to bring “clean and safe drinking water people in developing countries.”
In the summer of 2017, I had the privilege to visit Guatemala, a country that lacks resources and is considered underdeveloped. While visiting places, such as Chimaltenango and more rural areas, I came across multiple people that lived in extreme poverty. This is to a point where food is not always acquired and basic necessities are always missing, especially access to clean water. Our team always bought bottled water for drinking and usage, instead of using water straight from the tap because of how contaminated it was. Guatemalans struggle daily to find safe and drinkable water. Thankfully, Charity: Water has started working towards a state where people can start using much more purified water, including Guatemala.
With every dollar donated, Charity: Water travels to poverty-stricken locations to create a system or a structure that brings clean water to each household within the neighborhood. Wells, piped systems, water purifiers, rainwater catchments, and even proper bathrooms are built to achieve a solution. Since 2006, 35,281 water projects were funded, 9,562,163 people are able to retrieve clean water, and 26 different countries have been served.
After visiting Guatemala, I realized how much of a problem it is to not have access to safe and clean water. I have witnessed people struggle because of illnesses caused by contamination, especially diarrhea and bacterial infections. Building a proper system for developing countries is so important, simply because today, over 600 million people live without purified water. Among these people, 16,000 lives can be saved weekly and women will not have to walk 40 billion hours a year if clean water was easier to retrieve and use. There is a global crisis going on right now and Charity: Water has done extraordinary work in bringing the pleasure of having drinking water nearby.
In recent years, questions of inequality have been raised in this country on the nature of making sure people have access to safe drinking water. This most prolifically unfurled in the epic of injustice facing residents of Flint, Michigan, by perceived racial and economic discriminators who ignored the lead-contaminated water supply for years. Many of us in the class were too uninformed or lacked the type of understanding to get the full grasp of the situation that occurred in Flint. Water contamination is the main idea, always, but underneath this fact that people were drinking chemicals with their water that could effectively take years off their life expectancy was the disparity. Thousands of people were exposed to dangerous toxins solely because they were easily disregarded. Fingers were pointed and a few arrests were made for negligence, but even worse was the inequality. Some people were consciously decided upon as second-class citizens, not worth regulating water for because they were that unimportant that nobody would step up if anybody did notice. People did notice, and an onslaught of media coverage and legal battles was the fiasco that ensued, perhaps what some would view as justice, but something that could still never compensate for years of life lost from a mathematical perspective.
ReplyDeleteNow, with this charity pitch, people are again being asked to think as citizens. Here, in the United States, people like to talk about equality a lot. Defining equality within a quantifiable set is not an easy thing, but it makes it somewhat manageable. In the United States, that quantifiable set would be all the people living in the country, which helps to explain why there was such a burden spread across the country of how anyone could allow this to happen to their fellow countrymen. That is just the mindset that comes from being a national citizen. However, that role as citizen should be malleable to different environments. We demonstrate this as neighbors, community members, proud New Yorkers, and as Americans, but there seems to be a missing platform that is essential to fostering support for those in need. As aggravated as I was by Peter Singer's stubborn attitude and marketing approach to charity, I do think that he would agree that all people should think like global citizens. When people hear about water contamination in Guatemala, the issue should not lie within the boundaries of Guatemala, especially seeing that the country may be ill-equipped to deal with the water crisis. Instead, people should see this story and ask themselves if they would ever allow their next-door neighbor, their colleague, even their countrymen be relegated like that. Most often the answer would be a resounding no, "I would never let my neighbor suffer through that," yet just add a little bit of distance, a language barrier, a border line, and the people who are cohabitants of Earth are not treated with the same protective advantage of being a member of a strong body.
In addition to encouraging all people to remember to think globally, I think it is also important to remind people to appreciate the value that lies in living in a country that values charity. While there are many systemic barriers to mobility for lower classes and minorities, the United States is still a country that values internal giving and support for those who don't have anything by those who do. Remember this, when thinking about Guatemala, a developing country that is still coping with challenges of political dissent following a 36 year civil war ending in 1996. This is a country that lacks the philanthropic infrastructure and that is too weak and unstable for its own citizens to provide support from within, so the responsibility should be, as it always should be, passed onto those who have enough to help those who have nothing. This is global citizenship that Guatemala is in desperate need of right now.
I think bringing up the issue of Flint Michigan is very important yet, kind of brings down or negates the organization Charity Water itself. Although, this has been a prevalent issue in Michigan for a few years and has been neglected by the public eye because the media only cares about issues that give them ratings and or the attention span of the public is little to none ( I am surely guilty of this as well) Flint Michigan is something that is politically based, based on corrupt politicians that targeted the community which consists of majority African American and or other poor marginalized people.
DeleteCharity Water is planning to help people in impoverished countries who do not have access to water because of their geographical location and not because the public does not want to help them. With that being said, Flint Michigan is a problem that can be solved by Americans if we cared just a little more about the situation and did not live off the privilege of our clean New York water.
Countries such as Guatemala are less than likely to be solved by just the help of Guatemalans. Yes there are political factors that play into the role of country and how it runs as well. However, many people living in the countries such as Guatemala and or countries in Africa are located in places that are not able to produce water at a rate that America does, or find water as quickly as we would because of structural issues, issues that involved post colonialism and them not being able to build themselves back up at a quick rate and the resources that are not handed to them. What is happening in Flint Michigan literally should not be a thing especially in America.
I think Charity Water is an important organization and I am glad Jacob presented it thoroughly and efficiently. I learned alot about the organization and it also raised some moral questions about myself so I appreciate it!
It is 2019 and the fact that the entire global population still does not have access to clean drinking water is a crazy and ridiculous reality. It is disappointing to know that not everyone is able to have access to basic necessities of life such as water. Realistically without easy access to such necessities it is difficult to prosper in any other aspect of life when that issue is always something to be conscious of. These terrible inequalities in the world are clearly not being fixed by governments, which is why Charity: Water's work is so important and vital to the continued vitality of communities like the one you visited in Chimaltenango. Charity: Water's reputation proceeds itself considering this charity pitch is not the first time I have heard about it. Many famous youtubers and celebrities have partnered with them them in order to match donations of their fans.
ReplyDeleteThis organizations focus to provide communities with the means, tools, and technology to continually be able to obtain clean water for themselves is also an important distinction from other charities. While many charities look to answer similar problems around the globe, Charity: Water looks to make these communities self-sustainable and ensure that once their work there is done they will be able to support themselves.
Through just one $60 donation, 24 people can be provided with clean water every year. This organization is highly efficient with the use of their donations, as a nonprofit this something that has been heavily discussed within our class. Charity: Water's approach from choosing locations to choosing the specific type of technology for a community involve partners deciding where it will go to best use and aid the largest amount of people possible. This type of decision making from Charity: Water ensures that donations are being used intelligently and makes their organization more transparent for their donors. Although unfortunately this great organization did not receive the donation from the class they do receive sizable donation from both their partners and countless individual donors. Their individual donors average monthly donations of $33 each which considering how cheap it is to provide people with clean water is enough to do good. I previously have donated to this charity and due to its amazing work intend on donating to it again in the future and urge those in the class to consider donating too!
After researching on my own about Charity: Water after the in-class presentation, I began to think about the many dimensions that this charitable organization affects. Charity: Water’s focus to bring clean water to communities experiencing drought and water crises means more than simply establishing a clean drinking water source to those in need, it means raising the status of women across the globe.
ReplyDeleteListed on the homepage of Charity: Water’s website is the title ‘Clean Water Changes Everything’, and, it really does. Upon first reading up on an organization that provides water sources to communities, it is not the first idea that comes to mind that this nonprofit would also trail-blaze a communities gender dynamic. However, Charity: Water is proud to list women empowerment as one of its most abundant results. In areas where water is scarce, it is often the woman of the family’s assumed job to venture out to find and return useable drinking water. In sub-saharan Africa, it not uncommon for women to walk more than ten miles a day to retrieve water for their families and children. Women in these poor areas often remain immobile at a lower status for this reason, instead of earning an education or income, they must focus on survival. As Charity: Pitch recites on their homepage, “more time spent collecting water is less time spent in class”.
It is for this multifaceted cause that I think Charity: Water is such an impactful and well-rounded organization. By providing water sources and aqueducts to areas around the world experiencing water crisis, this organization is also allowing the development and education of young girls, mothers, and all women. By doing so, they are advancing third world countries into the modern world, all at the price of a water well.
Water should never be a luxury. Charity: Water works to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. You mention the dangers of drinking unsafe, contaminated water—diarrhea, bacterial infections, cholera, dysentery, or schistosomiasis— however, you only touched slightly on its effects on women and children. Many women and children spend about six to eight hours walking 3.75 miles every day to fetch water. Imagine having to carry heavy buckets of water for long distances, sometimes in extreme weather, just for it to be undrinkable. These women and children are more prone to getting sick and with all the time they spend getting water, they are unable to go to school and get an education.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of people in the United States will never have to worry about clean water. In 2016, over 90 percent of the nation's community water systems were in compliance with all 90 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. There are countries that do not even have water regulations or just fail to enforce them. As Benjamin Franklin famously said: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” This is why it is difficult for any one of us to fully comprehend the importance of organizations like Charity: Water. But then I remembered hearing about another organization that may help youths like us understand.
I first learned about the Thirst Project through a club on campus that brought in some people from the organization to speak about what they do and why they do it. The Thirst Project is the world’s largest youth water organization and has already given 350,000 people safe, clean water for the rest of their lives. Much like Charity: Water, the Thirst Project’s goal is to end the water crisis, however, they focus on the youth as a part of the solution. They believe that “students are the most powerful agents for social change in the world.” As a student, I was moved by how much change they have already made and how much faith they have in us to continue to make changes. I may not fully understand the pain and struggle these people are facing in developing countries; however, I feel like I have the power to help them. This raises the question: if we are faced with two organizations that fight for the same cause, who do we donate to?