Dealing
With Inequality

Water costs nothing for those with everything
and everything for those with nothing

The poor pay huge sums for small amounts of water. To get it, they walk great distances, wait hours, and compete with other equally desperate people for the precious resource. Overcoming inequality is more than making sure that all people receive 20 litres of water everyday ­ those 20 litres must be clean and affordable ­ and free for the poor.

Who pays the most?

From the Tap or the Bottle...

Living in a big city in Russia formy entire life, I was used to buying bottledmineral water. It never occurred tome to drink from the tap because anyone who did got very sick. Every morning when I brushed my teeth, I used mineral water. When we ran out of bottles, I used special filters and boiled the water. This took forever. Sometimes I went to school without brushing my teeth.

Now I’m an exchange student in the United States. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw my host parents drinking tap water? But they still buy mineral water. I don’t know why.

Olya Chebykina, Russia

Frozen Pipe Conscience

Today winter arrived in Canada and the water pipes in our barn froze. At 6:00 am my brother Eric and I started lugging 20-litre buckets of water from the house to the barn so the animals had something to drink. Underneath my layered clothes I was still cold: today was truly a day of the North.

As I waited for my buckets to fill, I thought how funny it was that I was doing something long ago abandoned by humans. And I corrected myself: there are still plenty of people in the world who carry their water daily. Buckets filled, I trudged up to the barn. The first trip was invigorating. I was outside, I was exercising, and I was on a mission: get water to the animals. Inside, a thirsty cow and a llama, polite enough to not complain about their lack of water greeted me ­ the sheep and goats however, let me know their present situation was entirely my fault. Heading back to the house, I realized that my arms were quite sore. It was going to be a very long morning.

Back at the house I started thinking again. Howsimilar I amto the people of the world who carry their water daily. Again I shuffled my thoughts: No ­ my cows are pets. My life does not depend on the survival of the cows. And the survival ofmy cows rarely depends onme lugging water to them. Normally all I do is turn on the hose. The buckets filled and my thoughts halted. I rushed the last fifty meters to the cows’ water bin and dumped the buckets immediately. I told the cows how lucky they were and went back to the house for another load.

I am used to doing rough farm work, but walking through snow carrying 40-litres of water required muscles I don’t use on a daily basis.Walking together, Eric said we should do this every day and build up the sore unused arm muscles into strong ones. Everyday, just like so many people around the world.

I imagined what it would be like ­ all this work, everyday, just for every sip of water. As we passed the cows, I noticed their water bin was a bit dirty and would need to be cleaned soon. The water that I get out of my tap is clean and clear and ready for drinking. But what if it came from a muddy river, or a stagnant pond? What if the only water I had access to was dirty? I looked back at the horses, the cows ­my pets ­ and watched them ease their thirst with clean water. Water far cleaner than that which millions of people drink. Why should I be entitled to this wealth and luxury? Why should I be water-fat, and others thirsty? Why do somany people need to worry where their next drink of water will come from? What can I do?

Connor Youngerman, Canada