Bibliography 2: Water Tap Often Shut to South African Poor

Thompson, Ginger. “Water Tap Often Shut to South African Poor.” New York Times. N.p., 05,29,2003.Web.10 Dec 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/world/water-tap-often-shut-to-south-africa-poor.html?scp=1&sq=water%20tap%20often%20shut%20to%20African%20poor&st=cse

                In this New York Times article, Thompson expands on how some villagers in Shakashead, South Africa have pennies to spend on water meters while others stand around littered mud puddles or sewage seeps nearby to get their water for their families. Thompson explains how “privatization is a new kind of apartheid,” which separated white from blacks and poor from rich. When the apartheid ended 8 or 13 million who didn’t have availability of water before now receive water.  Since 10 million people suffer the effects of the water cutoffs Thompson agrees with Mike Muller’s idea that national water officials should provide all households with a minimal lifeline of about 1,500 free gallons of water a month. Thompson is a correspondent and the New York Times. She presents this article almost one sided when talking about just the villagers who have been affected by the change in water policies. She doesn’t respond to both sides of the issue after the apartheid ended which is potential bias. This article shows similarities to my other articles on how the South African poor are in dire situations and need the African government to find solutions to ease their suffering.   

Bibliography 1: LifeStraw

Mincer, Jilian. "Product Design (A Special Report); Water, Water Everywhere...The LifeStraw looks simple; But it has the potential to save many live." Wall Street Journal [New York] 23 Jun 2008.n.pag.Web.15 Jan 2012. http://search.proquest.com/docview/399011954?accountid=285

 

In this newspaper article, Mincer explains what prompted Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen to create the LifeStraw for African villagers and how he came up with such a promising product that ensures 99.9% removal of bacteria and waterborne viruses. Mincer agrees that this LifeStraw is a perfect product that empowers people to acquire purified water right away to where they don’t have to wait for the African government to come up with solutions in the future. She explains how people in critical situations drink the unsafe and very dirty water not realizing the viruses it holds which can cause ‘diarrhea, dysentery, and eventually death’ as Jeff Nene explains. The result of the LifeStraw is a personal water purifier that eliminates basically all the waterborne bacteria and most viruses. When a person sucks through the straw the water goes through iodine filters and then a second chamber of granulated active carbon which absorbs the iodine, for better tasting water. Mincer is a writer in New York for Reuters who discusses investing and personal finance topics. She says that any views expressed are her own which could potentially be biased but in this article she shows no bias. She like many others is just explaining a solution to the drinking of unsafe water worldwide. 

summary 1: keeping the water flowing in rural villages

In her article, “Keeping the Water Flowing in Rural Villages,” Tina Rosenberg shares how the creation of the British-based charity, WaterAid, is solving the water pump problems in poor areas that cannot afford private contractors. Rosenberg explains how the governments originally install pumps in villages for means of healthy and clean water. Another plus is that women and children do not have to bear the 7-12 hour walk a day to get fresh water for their families. Eventually these pumps installed by the government would suddenly develop a leak, or burst deep down to where they would have to be fixed. Rosenberg uses research done by the Sustainable Water Services Scale and finds that 36% of the pumps installed by the government are not working now. In Tanzania alone, less than half of the existing pumps are working. These pumps have not been fixed because after the government installs them it is up to the poor villages to take care of them. The breaks in the pumps require special skills, spare parts or tools which are not found in a rural village. In Uttar Pradesh the government has been installing many water pumps but sadly out of the 12,500 water pumps, 40% of them are usually down, and when they break they stay broken. Mahoba has a different story. There WaterAid has created workshops called, Community Participation Center, where trained workers can fix a broken water pump in a neighboring village. The centers didn’t always work. Rosenberg explains that at first when WaterAid trained mechanics in the villages, they learned only basic repairs which didn’t get them very far in repairing broken water pumps. WaterAid decided to create a real business by training mechanics with higher standards. Today WaterAid has four centers with whom they have signed maintenance contracts with four villages where the governments are paying for the funds. Even women are seen fixing pumps and working for the center. Coming out from their traditional realm of covering their faces, these women at the centers are accepted publicly by men in their yellow hardhats. To conclude her article Rosenberg shares that what is happening in Mahoba is ‘promising’ but to keep the centers running the key is that the Indian government must pay the bills. This is the only way to keep the water flowing in poor villages.