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The 2005 edition of the International Essay Competition organized annually by the World Bank called on youth worldwide to submit their thoughts and ideas on “Building a Secure Future: Seeking Practical Solutions.” My contribution did not make it to the finals, so I sought in the essays of the finalists what it was I did not do right in my own paper. The initial purpose was to learn from those who did better than me, and apply their ideas in my future endeavours. I did just that and more. But one of the finalist essays was going to transform my lifestyle, my sense of responsibility, and my will to conserve what I have since come to appreciate as the most vital natural resource: Water.
A young Argentine, Maria Fernanda Heyaca, made it to the finals with an essay titled “Avoiding Waste to Avoid Wars.” She drove my attention for the first time to the reality of interregional water scarcity and the potential for conflict it commands. I would like now to continue right where she stopped by sharing ideas originally rooted in her work, but on a differentiated scale herein.
I think the power of natural resources would in any ramification be stunted without taking an equally critical look at the issues bordering on water availability for the world’s six billion-plus. Much – and I mean it when I say ‘much’, in fact ‘too much’ – have been documented on “the coming conflicts,” that states will fight a third world war over a resource as innocent as water. While I am in no position to dispute the many scholars, including Maria, who have come to the conclusion that “the scarcity of water will be one of the main causes for war in this century,” I must draw attention to the fact that “battles between two Sumerian city-states 4,500 years ago… over irrigation rights in what is now Iraq was the last time two states went to war over water.” Water has very rarely been the main ingredient in international conflicts, but it is often factored into the problem due to its economic importance.
By no means, however, is that a cause for relief. Existing trends indicate that the 21st century is well placed to shatter that record. Water may have meant anything in the past, but today the value attached to water makes rubbish of supposedly indispensable resources as oil. No matter how addicted the world may claim to be to oil, water is the resource that directly threatens life by its unavailability, or otherwise. Most humans definitely cannot survive three days without water. Turn off the gas supplies or cut back oil exports if you may, man’s ingenuity will still find a way to ensure survival. Do same for water and the consequences take their toll on human life.
Just before Maria’s essay, I would have affirmed that potable water is the one resource that had to be infinitely available. Now it is embarrassing to think that there was a time in my university days when I was as uninformed as to assume that because most of the Earth is water, it couldn’t possibly ever run out. This is what this article is about: updating knowledge of potable water as well as inspiring an attitudinal reorientation towards water as a regrettably limited resource.
Of all the water in the world, as reported by the WHO, 97% is salt water, 2% is locked up in polar ice caps, the remaining 1% includes all the fresh water in all the lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers – and over half of that is polluted! Of the remaining half of that precious 1%, agriculture consumes 70%, 20% goes to industry, leaving just 10% for all other uses we put water to. At this point, we may consider the pressure from a global surging population, and we are left with a situation where we use fresh water at twice the rate it is being replenished by nature. No wonder many believe in the inevitability of water conflicts.
Already, “around one-sixth of the 6.1 billion people in the world lack access to improved sources of water, while 40 percent are without access to improved sanitation services,” as the WHO maintains, “each year, 3.4 million people, mostly children, die from water-related diseases.” As usual, these occur more amongst the less developed, people for whom water is too precious to be wasted as much as the industrialized world is reputed to. An average American is estimated to require 3-7 gallons (12-28 litres) of water for just one flush of the toilet: more than the average person in a developing country has access to all day. But opting to turn off the water while we brush our teeth or wash dishes can lead to savings of about 20 litres a day per person. That makes individual water savings of up to 7,300 litres annually.
Let me place the individual – the “I” – in proper perspective. By individual, I mean any one person; a unit of humanity; you or me. Having done that, we may proceed.
If only I pause to wonder: “will I find a substitute for water when I waste it all?” I will realize that by no means am I permitted to waste water. I must take stock of all I do with water, so I can help in saving some for those babies and less-privileged dying now because they can’t get a bit of what I waste. I will take stock from the very moment I wake up to the time I lay my head to sleep.
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Writer Profile
Terhemba Aindigh
Terhemba Aindigh is currently with the Nigerian National Youth Service Corps. Having obtained a first degree in International Relations at Covenant University, Nigeria, with a flair for writing professionally, Terhemba enjoys making commentaries on issues that command worldwide relevance.
His essays have earned him an enviable reputation both nationally and internationally. Some of his writings have ensured his active participation in international conferences like the prestigious St. Gallen Symposium, South American Business Forum, and the Model World Trade Organization. He has also been awarded for exceptional writing by the World Bank and the World Federation of United Nations' Associations.
Most recently, Terhemba was announced as one of the 15 winners of an international essay, video and poster competition sponsored by the World Federation of United Nations Associations. This ensured his participation in the Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World Seminar, held at the United Nations Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. Consequently, he and the other winners were inspired to birth a global anti-nuclear weapons youth network.
As a founding member of the Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World Youth Initiative, Terhemba and his colleagues have taken up the immense responsibility to help in realizing a world free of nuclear weapons.
At present, he is doing what he loves to do best: writing more essays to compete in the likes of the Japanese Foreign Trade Council and Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library essay competitions, amongst others.
His ultimate ambition is to attain the heights of great men like Kofi Annan, who have made no little contribution to ensuring that our world is peaceful and just.
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Comments
De Maria Heyaca maria heyaca | Feb 29th, 2008
Dear Terhemba Aindigh;
This is Maria Heyaca; I have just read your article about water scarcity, includying your comments about my essay. I am very much honored to know its ideas inspired you. I wanted to thank you sincerely for your great regards about the essay and invite you to freely contact me. Cheers, Maria (mfheyaca@yahoo.co.uk)
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