Water is Life.
We have to talk about water,
– water is life.
We have to think about water,
– water is life.
We have to dream about water,
– water is life.
We have to sing about water,
– water is life.
We have to drink water,
– water is life.
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| Everline Zesamaja and her Swari Primary School in Samburuland, Kenya, 2010 |
Water is life. Think about the last shower you had? Or the last time you filled your water bottle? Or the last time you washed your hands? How much thought did you put into it? Think about how much of your daily life intersects with water. How much does water mean to you? Although we may not put much thought into the water we use, water use and access shapes the lives of many across the world. Globally, 2.1 billion people around the world do not have fully safe and managed water, meaning they must get water from an outside source, whether its for drinking, washing, cooking or agricultural use. This includes 844 million who do not even have basic drinking water access (WHO & UNICEF, 2017).Think about the effect this would have on your life, now think about the 263 million people of this 2.1 billion who spend over half an hour on a single trip for water collection. Think about the time and energy spent on this, particularly by women and girls, across the globe, who everyday in just 24 hours collectively spend 200 million hours on water collection (Haigh & Vallely, 2010). Think of all the things you are doing instead of thinking about, talking about and collecting water (Carter et. al, 1999). Water is life in so many senses.
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| Voss Water, 2014. |
This poem was written and recited by Everline Zesamaja, a girl at a Swari Primary School in Samburuland, Kenya, in 2010, during the opening ceremony of a water system as part of the ‘Women helping Women’ campaign by the Voss Water Foundation. This is one of their key campaigns in creating clean water access points and sanitation amenities, as they state an understanding that “water is disproportionately a women’s burden in Africa” and is an example of a community management of water developments funded by Voss in Kenya.
This young girl is not being creatively theatrical for verse. She is celebrating water, particularly as women and girls bare the weight of water collection, pay the heaviest price for inadequate sanitation and are in charge of cooking, caring and cleaning and other aspects of domestic life (Trucker et. al., 2014).So, for the women and children in this photo water access shapes their lives. For them, water is life, in every sense.
Professor Opha Pauline Dube of the University of Botswana has also stressed the importance of water by using this same simple phrase; "Water is life - with no water, Africa will be a dead continent”. Dube who is also an author on the IPCC’s most recent Africa report and Special Report on Global Warming 2018, stated this this in an interview with the BBC on how Africa will feel some of the worst of the effects of climate change in its water resources. With the advent of climate change water supply is set to become more unpredictable with more extremes and variation in rainfall. Over the next 7-10 years, 2/3 of the world’s population is estimated to face water shortages. Climate change is to blame for at least 20% of the increase in official water scarcity (Although this data uses a strict measure of water scarcity, have a look at Damkjaer & Taylor, 2017 for a comprehensive, more rounded discussion of water scarcity). Women are disproportionately at risk of water scarcity, not only because the majority of water and fuel collection is done by women and girls, but also as they are more subjected to poverty, as according to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest gender poverty gap.
Thinking about water is important, talking about water is important and analysing water access is incredibly important. Gender is intrinsically linked with water and concerns of gender are increasingly being woven into the development paradigm rather than being seen as a separate issue to explore in itself (Momsen, 2004). Therefore, through my discussions of water, I will attempt to understand water and development matters in Africa as I explore the issue of gender as it intersects with sanitation, the effects of climate change and other related topics.
Hello everyone, I just want to add a quick hello and welcome to my blog, feel free to give comment or give feedback. In my next post I will discuss more on why I am focusing on women's relationship with water and why gender is and important topic within the water and development paradigm. Hope you enjoy the rest of what’s to come on this topic!
Hi, I really like your first post, especially the inclusion of the poem! I think it has a very important message. I also think it is interesting that you mention climate change - could you tell me a bit more about how gender relates to climate change and its effects on water?
ReplyDeleteThanks, for the question! I think you cannot discuss water issues without mentioning climate change, especially as the future variability posed by the effects of climate change, which will affect the poorest and most vulnerable, and therefore definitely have a gendered impact, with women baring much of the brunt of the negative effects.
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post and the inclusion of the different multi-media! I just thought I'd leave feedback on your statement 'Africa will feel some of the worst of the effects of climate change in its water resources' . After reading Dunning and Black's paper (https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0102.1) on precipitation in Africa, they show that under a Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (nightmare scenario) over the Horn of Africa they expect ‘short rains’ season to increase by +100mm as well as average rainfall per rainy day to increase. Though, the number of rainy days in the wet season to decline. I think this paper adds into the wider argument that climate change and its affects are unknown, but across the continent of Africa rain patterns, water storages are likely to change on a national and local scale. But not particularly get dryer as your statement in the context of water insinuated.
But importantly the changes in rainfall could have big socio-economic impacts due nations and communities dependence upon seasonal rainfall, especially rurally with little access to technology. In the future, I think we will see women taking the brunt of negotiating new adaptation strategies for these new rainfall patterns - do you agree?
Thank you Elizabeth for the comments and link to this reading!! I had not intended to insuate that Africa would get drier but that rainfall patterns would change and therefore water access would change due to this, so I will review what I've written.
DeleteI could not agree more! I am currently reading 'Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming', there is a section in this completely focused on women and have listened to Katherine Wilkenson, an author on this discuss womens role in combatting climate change. So I definately believe women are at the forefront and becoming more involved, both in the conversation and as a strategy for development.
Sounds great - I should give that a listen!
DeleteLooking forward to future posts :)
Like Tallulah, I really like the poem at the start and also the use of rhetorical questions, as they both made me think deeper and conjured images in mind. The range of topics you want to discuss are interlinked and I would encourage you research literature that strengthens the relationships you want to address. You mentioned that 'Although we may not put much thought into the water we use, water use and access shapes the lives of many across the world, especially the time and energy of women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa (Carter et. al, 1999).' What aspects of their time and energy are impacted? does the paper you referenced provide some further insight that you can draw on in future posts?
ReplyDeleteHi, the part that you mentioned I had yet to add the facts I wanted as I could not find the reference but have updated it now, if you want to have a look. Also in regards to Carter, his article just mentions briefly about the burden of water collection so by mentioning this I wanted to elude to my next two posts- which explain the impact on girls and women, particularly regarding water collection! So see my next post for the wider role gender plays in discussions of water and development and the next few posts after this for the burden of water collection. It is also something I am going to discuss in future posts!
Deletehttps://genderedwaterinafrica.blogspot.com/2018/11/women-still-carry-most-of-worlds-water.html here is the link to my most recent post which explores more on this.
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