To many of us, water is something that we take for granted. By turning on a tap, we have water to drink and cook with, water to bathe in and wash our clothes, water for the dishwasher and to clean our cars and water to play in on a hot day. It is only when water restrictions are in place and that we hear that many parts of Australia continue to be affected by drought that we realise just how valuable the resource of water is and that it shouldn't be wasted.
But where does our water come from and how do we know that it is safe to drink? These are great questions worth exploring in the activities below.
Did you know that:
· 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population, and 2.4 billion or 40 per cent of the world's people lack access to adequate sanitation services.
· Some 6,000 children die each day from diseases associated with unsafe water and poor sanitation.
· One flush of a western toilet uses as much water as the average person in the majority world uses for a whole day's washing, drinking, cleaning and cooking. Source: http://www.un.org/events/water/brochure.htm
Access to safe water is an issue that needs to be addressed during emergencies and in the long term. Recently, during the war in Iraq, water plants were bombed. As a consequence, many Iraqi people were left with little access to safe water. One of the ways that Caritas Iraq was immediately able to help Iraqi civilians, through the support of Caritas Australia and the wider Caritas network, was to provide water tanks and water purification tablets.
In the village of Kighare in Tanzania, Caritas Australia has been working in partnership with Caritas Tanzania and the people in the village of Kighare on a gravity fed water project, which brings clean water to over 20,000 people through approximately 35 kilometres of underground pipes. The water comes from a forest water source in an adjacent mountain.
The project began after conducting a baseline survey amongst the people of Kighare who identified access to clean water as a significant issue. Before the completion of the water project, women and children in the village had to walk for three hours to a water source that was not always clean or safe, to fill a 20-litre container. In some areas in Tanzania, and indeed in many countries throughout the world, there is the added threat to women of being attacked while going to collect water, particularly if doing this in the early hours of the morning.
Once the water was collected, the women and children then travelled another three hours home carrying the container on their heads. As collecting the water was such a lengthy process, this left little time in the day for the women to grow crops and be involved in income generation projects, such as basket weaving. Furthermore, because of the long walks to collect water, some children missed out on going to school and those who did go to school were often too tired to concentrate and had little time to study. The people in the village came to realise that access to safe water would change their lives considerably.
And it has done just that. The water project is a great example of community development. The success of this project is largely due to the collaboration between the people of Kighare and the Diocese of Same. The people of Kighare very much 'own' this project. They identified a need and worked together, with the support of Caritas, to build their gravity fed water project. Water is now available for all in the area - Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim.
Water is often seen as a symbol of new life. We have seen in the story above that it is indeed life giving. But in this year of the International Year of Fresh Water, we can see that it is even more than that, it is about helping people to reclaim their lives.
Teaching and learning activities
Geography / Human Society in its Environment / Studies of Society and the Environment
1.Where does our water come from and why do we know that it's safe to drink? And how can we conserve water? Sydney Water has produced education resources for both Primary and Secondary students to address these issues. Interactive games included! Visit: http://www.sydneywater.com.au/html/education/education_index.cfm
The following website is also useful: www.internal.schools.net.au/edu/water1/teachernotes.html
2. Other useful websites to address these questions include the following:
For the A.C.T.
www.act.waterwatch.org.au/education/index.htm
For the Northern Territory:
www.lpe.nt.gov.au/waterwatch
For Queensland:
www.qld.waterwatch.org.au
For South Australia:
www.watercare.net/wll_cc/cw_introduction.htm
www.sa.waterwatch.org.au/educatio.htm
For Tasmania:
www.tas.waterwatch.org.au
For Victoria:
www.vic.waterwatch.org.au/fortheteacher/
For Western Australia:
www.watercorporation.com.au/education/index.cfm
3. For an interactive story about how water can become polluted visit: www.lwa.gov.au/downloads/edu/catchment_story.doc
4. Visit www.teriin.org/olympiad/2003theme.htm and answer the following questions:
"No single measure would do more to reduce disease and save lives in the developing world than bringing safe water and adequate sanitation to all." (Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General speaking about International Year of Fresh Water).
a) List five ways that access to safe water can improve health.
b) Read the rest of the passage. How much fresh water is available for consumption?
c) List 10 ways you use water.
d) List 5 ways that you can help to conserve water.
What's in a label?
1. List three ways that we refer to people who live in parts of the world that are particularly prone to poverty.
2. From whose perspective are these labels named?
3. In recent times, the less value-laden terms 'majority world' and 'minority world' are being used to describe the distribution of wealth.
Explain what you think is meant by the term 'majority world' and the term 'minority world'.
Religion
1. List three ways that water is associated with new life.
2. This week's discussion piece has been called 'Water - helping people to reclaim life'. How has access to clean water helped people to 'reclaim life'?
Activities across the curriculum
1. In the International Year of Fresh Water, forceten has produced a free kit about water for Simply Sharing Week. The kit includes activities across the curriculum (including English, Maths, Science, Religion, Geography, Studies of Society and Environment, Human Society and its Environment). It can be downloaded at their website: www.forceten.org.au Select: 'Simply Sharing Week'.
2. TEAR Australia has also produced a free educational kit about water. It includes a youth pack with some great water games to play, classroom lessons, water facts sheet and an advocacy pack offering ideas for individual and group action. Visit: http://www.tear.org.au/resources/water_for_life/index.htm for more information.
3. www.catholicearthcareoz.net (currently offline) is an excellent site. Catholic Earthcare Australia have just released a CD ROM of activities for Primary and Secondary students across a wide range of Key Learning Areas entitled:
'Earthcare Day: Freshwater is Sacred Water'. This is accompanied with a poster. Catholic Earthcare Australia also released a video last year entitled: 'The Garden Planet', which can be obtained for $20 if your school or parish would like a copy. For a copy of either of these resources, please contact Sascha Tel: (02) 9956 5800 or email admin@bcjdep.org For further information or inquiries, please contact Jacqui on a Wednesday Tel: (02) 9956 5800.
4. See 'Liquid Gold' in the OzSpirit 'Archives Section (October 2002) or go directly to: http://www.ozspirit.info/issues/210/1.php for another article and more teaching and learning activities about water.
Schools, Parishes and Community groups
1. Lobby your local politicians about the issue of water. For suggestions of how to do this, visit: www.watermattersaustralia.org
Select: 'Resources'.
Select: 'Winter Pollie Push'.
2. Think of some ways that you can make a difference by conserving water.
3. For some great articles about water written by Charles Rue and Sean
McDonagh, visit:
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_curr_article1.htm
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_curr_article2.htm
4. The Columban Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice (PEJ Centre), in association with the Catholic Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission, Australian Catholic University and Catholic Earthcare Australia have organised a forum: 'Wonder and the Will to Care: A Multi-Faith Forum on Ecology' for Saturday 21 June 2003 at ACU, Strathfield Campus in Sydney. For more information, contact PEJ Centre ph: (02) 9488 8844.
5.Find out more about the relationship between Women, Water and Development. A great website: http://www.unesco.org/water/ihp/women_and_water.shtml
Other useful websites: www.watermattersaustralia.org
http://www.un.org/events/water/brochure.htm
