WATERWETAKINGFORGRANTED.COM: January 2011

My Mission:

My mission is not only to provide the tools necessary to help out the 1.1 billion people who lack safe drinking water but to raise awareness on the topic as well. 1 out of every 6 people worldwide still lack access to the earths most overlooked and precious resource, water. In the time it took you to read what was written above, a child died from a water-borne illness such as diarrhea(1 every 20 seconds or 5,000 children a day). It's easy to overlook the seriousness of this issue as we waste water like it's going out of style whether it be our pools, water parks, and even bottled water. Not only is this water needed to quench the thirst of those living in developing countries but it's needed for hygiene practices and most importantly, agriculture which dominates many of these countries economies. I'm dedicating my life(for now) to making sure I can do everything I can both domestically and internationally to help tackle this very important issue.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Media on wells in Cambodia

These two videos give a very good background into the water table in Cambodia and also the large amount this country is fortunate to have. Unfortunately for them, the water at the top of their water tables may have disease or viruses in it so they opt to walk miles a day to fetch water that still may not be safe so their children have a better chance of not getting sick or as sick. This accessible water seen all over the country can change families lives drastically if they just have filtered wells built. The filter takes out 99.9% of the bacteria in the water and the well creates a nearly endless supply for the family to use. The family can now use it for irrigation to produce different crops, to take showers, to brush their teeth and especially to drink. Well done Matthew Mcfarlane for the videos.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

chum riep sueh mao pii Phnom Penh

Hello from Phnom Penh! It's been quite some time since I've posted, so sorry to all who may check this frequently. I've been out of the country and doing a lot of traveling for the past few weeks. I've started working for an NGO in Cambodia called STT. They mainly work on the Housing Rights/Eviction issue. For those who may or may not know, this is a very serious issue in Phnom Penh as they are evicting poor communities in the name of "development". These communities are getting completely under compensated for the land they own and the real issue is that they don't really have an alternative but to move into the country side because they can't afford a house anywhere else in the city. Phnom Penh has access to health care, jobs and education while practically everywhere else in the countryside does not or they offer very bad options. Through this work and getting to see the communities most directly and seriously affected, I can provide at least safe drinking water to them at their relocation sites. Many people in the country side lack complete access to safe water and some people I know have said that they have seen people who live there drinking water directly from a dirty lake runoff. Cambodia hasn't really been mapped out too well yet so it's hard to figure out where these communities are. Myself and STT are in the process of doing social interactive mapping so these communities show up on a map and these houses have addresses.

Some links to use to learn about the evictions.
http://saveboeungkak.wordpress.com/
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69319195624

Peace to All,
Christian

WATERWETAKINGFORGRANTED.COM