More links for the Archives subsection

Select One News Archives Faith Stories Archives Profiles in Faith Archives Thea Resources

My Perspective:
Water: A crisis of quality, quantity and corporate greed

Juanita Soc was here one day to drop off some handicrafts for Prairiewoods. Juanita is a political refugee in Mexico City, having fled the violence of the 1980s in Guatemala. After talking about the current climate of violence in Guatemala, Juanita said, "Do you know what worries me?"

"No," I responded.

"Water," she replied.

Juanita lives in southern Mexico City in an area called Xochimilco. It is a large, green area of the city, known for the famous Floating Gardens. Centuries ago, food was grown for the island city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City today) on these floating squares, and brought by boat via the many rivers and canals connecting the outer areas with the center.

Children gather at the well installed by North American benefactors in the Village of Azacualpa, Department of Sonsonate, El Salvador.

Juanita went on to say that families she knows who always had access to water now turn on the kitchen faucet . . . and nothing comes out! She added that people living in third floor apartments have no water. That made me recall that recently the water was off here twice with no warning.

Granted, Mexico City is a thirsty city and one of the largest in the world. With a current population of approximately 24 million people, access to water is a concern. Experts predict a crisis there in as little as 10 years.

But the issue of making clean water affordable and accessible to people spreads far beyond Mexico City. In fact, the problems of depleting fresh water supplies, pollution and corporate acquisition are leading our planet into a crisis situation.

I was able to participate in the First Hemispheric Forum Against Militarization in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. The forum focused on three areas, including water. There I learned how U.S. forces are guarding the fresh water supply of the Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina. Iguazu Falls is larger than Niagara Falls, and the U.S. government fears this valuable resource could be a target for a terrorist attack.

Later as I reflected on Juanita's concern about water, I remembered some vivid scenes from sites I visited through GATE. In San Cristobal de las Casas, a student group from Viterbo University visited the museum of Sergio Castro, which features the unique clothing of each ethnic group in Chiapas. But Sergio Castro is much more than a museum curator, he visits isolated indigenous communities and is able to heal their bad burns, and he witnesses, first hand, the water problems these communities face. On the day the Viterbo students visited him he showed us a plastic soft drink bottle filled with a cloudy liquid. This was a water sample taken from a rural community; the only water that the people had access to. Bits of debris floated in the water. Is it any wonder so many children die before age five from waterborne diseases, and people suffer from chronic diarrhea?

Also in Chiapas are the beautiful Lagos de Monte Bello. I never thought there could be anything so pretty and clean left on this planet. A multinational soft drink company has expressed interest in buying one of the lakes as a fresh water supply so it can guarantee the high quality of its product. No one has asked the indigenous people who have lived there for centuries if they wish to sell it.

In the state of Guanajuato, other groups visit a rural, desert-like area. There is no water. People have to buy bottles of water or go without.

Traveling by bus in the state of Hidalgo, I recall seeing what appeared to be snow banks drifting in the cement canals by the side of the road. A closer viewing showed this to be the water from washing machines and dishwater being moved out of Mexico City to the countryside for the poor to use as irrigation on their fields. This raises the interesting reality of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.) According to NAFTA, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are to follow the same rules. Yet the small farmers in Mexico cannot sell their tomatoes on the international market because they have no access to clean water. However, the large scale farmer across the road, who has the money and irrigation machinery, and access to clean water, can sell his crops in the U.S. and Canada and make a profit.

In Azacualpa, young girls can now walk a short distance from their homes for access to clean water.

In Guatemala, there are villages with no water supply. Outside of Guatemala City is a squatters' settlement called Mario Alioto. It is a dry and dusty home to thousands of people who thought they were escaping the misery of the countryside by moving closer to the city. There literally is no water! Trucks bring in water during the week, and pour the water into used oil barrels, many with no covers. This water is bought by the poor,who have to use it for drinking, cooking and bathing. Strangely enough, sweatshops across the road from this settlement have green grass and water piped in. But the government has never taken any responsibility for the thousands of people who try to survive in Mario Alioto.

During a visit to El Salvador in November of 2003, Ana Eugenia Marin took our GATE group to a village in Sonsonate called Azacualpa. It was a Sunday afternoon, and we were able to meet a group of school-aged children who were gathered in the two-room social hall of the community. The village had no water. One of the GATE participants asked the students what they liked best about their village. No one answered. Another question posed was, "What do you like least about your village?" An articulate young girl answered, "We would like water so we are not so thirsty during school."

That particular GATE group took this request to heart, and through Global Partners: Running Waters, Inc. set out to raise almost $30,000 needed. FSPA, through its Ministry Grant Fund, also contributed to this project. As of December 2004, the community has clean, running water for the first time!

All of these examples raise the questions, who has access to clean water now, and who will have access in the future? How can we guarantee that all people, no matter their economic status, will have clean water for drinking, cooking, washing and farming?

There are steps we can take to help the water crisis in the world. Consume fewer soft drinks. Take one or two fewer showers per week. Monitor whether corporations are interested in privatizing water in your state or community. Know someone who has everything? Make a donation in their name to Global Partners: Running Waters, Inc. through jgregorc@ssnd-milw.org. This not-for-profit organization is providing funds for wells for people in remote areas where water is underground.

Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai of Kenya said that the planet is at risk from human activity, and urged for an end to corporate greed. She further stated that "industry and global institutions must appreciate that insuring economic justice, equity and ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost." She further challenged the world to answer a call "to assist the earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."

Water is becoming an ever more precious commodity. Let's share what we have with those who lack access.

Click here to return to the News Archives page.