It can be really hard for us here in the Northwest (where we are so ready for spring!) to think about an absence of water. But water really is the 21st century resource strain, and access to water can lead to conflict and violence. As decades of industrial scale farming has shifted water patterns, lowered water tables, and turned parts of the world into dust access to clean water is paramount. Particularly for women and girls, access issues affect their entire lives. Girls who must spend entire days walking to water sources and back aren't in school. Also, these same girls are carrying gallons upon gallons of water (at 8.1 pounds per gallon! For the girls above that's about 40 pounds on their heads...) and the weight can stunt their growth. Combined with a lack of nutrition, these girls stay smaller, which can lead to a host of problems later in life. Of particular concern are obstetric complications that result from being to small and underdeveloped (and young) to bear children.
Some interesting articles about water:
Is Access to Clean Water a Basic Human Right
from the Christian Science Monitor
A Walk to Beautiful
a film about obstetric fistula
Water Wars
by Vandana Shiva (you know I love her!)
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