Technology
Clean Water Up until some years back I thought nothing about the issue of clean water. It was not something I remember hearing about when I was young. When I moved here twenty years ago, California was coping with a long drought, that was the first time I heard of water rationing. As years have passed I’ve become somewhat more about enlightened about the issue. However, I am surprised to learn how severe the problem is in Indonesia and other countries. It is estimated that over 1 billion people - about one sixth of the world’s population lack assess to safe drinking water. A child dies every eight seconds from contaminated water, with a total deaths of over 5 million people each year (www.earthsummit.org/cleanwater.html). Indonesia is one of the five countries that account for 50% to 80% of all the people without access to safe drinking water, the others being China, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Women make up 70% of the world population living in poverty. Most women living in Indonesia are poor and lack access to safe drinking water. Women are responsible for collecting the water and preparing food for their families and they are also the ones who care for themselves, each other and their children when they become ill from drinking and using polluted, unsafe water. There are organizations and projects that address the needs of these generally poor, rural communities. An example of success is the isolated village of Munti Gunung in north Bali where 9,500 people were relaying on one well located six kilometers outside the village. Each day more than 600 hundred buckets were dropped into that one well, the result was polluted water rapidly spreading disease through the village. The John Fawcett Foundation in association with Rotary Australia, and equipment donated from Australia was able to set up a well and pump system using solar technology to provide clean water for this one village at the cost of approximately twelve thousand US dollars. |
