http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/profit-for-good-carbon-credits-bring-clean-water-to-rural-kenya.html?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29
Photo: In this photo, a woman tries out her new LifeStraw filter in her home.
In many rural communities in Kenya, the water supply is very scarce. With the water they can collect, most of is is highly contaminated with chemicals and pollutants. This is increasing over the years and is started to become a huge problem. More and more families die from either lack of water or diseases they contracted from drinking contaminated water. Thankfully, an organization has stood up to support those struggling in Kenya. This organization is called the Carbon for Water campaign which is run by Vestergaard Frandsen. They offered water filters to many families in the city, Kakamega. These filters, also called LifeStraw, can give a family of five clean healthy water every single day. Since these filters have been sent out to various families, less and less people are dying due to water related illnesses.
Reaction:
I think it is great that more and more organizations and campaigns are finally helping those in need in places like Kenya. However, there are so many other families that must also be helped throughout the world, and these people need to be helped quickly. I think that many many more organizations should help out from every country that can. We need to stop being so wasteful of our water, and realize that many people are without this precious necessity every single day. This article reminded me of the videos we watched in class this week.
Questions:
1. Do you think the installation of LifeStraw will make a huge difference?
2. Do you think that rural communities like the ones discussed need more help?
3. How do you think school students could become involved in such a big issue in the world?
4. If given the opportunity to help improve water quality, would you?
5. Do you often waste water?
This is a fantastic movement and it makes me so happy to see people help any country with water, not just Kenya. This organization will help save hundreds or maybe thousands of lives. I just wonder why it took people this long to help. Action should have been taken from the start and we as humans should feel responsible.
ReplyDelete2) I think this filter will be enough to help this community. Many of their illnesses are water related so this should be enough to get them back on their feet. I just hope that they are responsible with their water usage and keep their filters in shape.
This is a great idea and a terrific way to distribute these filters across Kenya. More things like this need to be done in order to help families in Kenya and the rest of Africa to get water. As shown in the video with Jay-Z that we watched in class, the water supply in Africa is terrible and affects so many aspects of life.
ReplyDelete1. I think that if distributed right, LifeStraw could make a huge difference. Also, the more people that receives these filters, the bigger the impact will be, which is why it is so important to distribute these properly and widely.
I think it's amazing that these people are finally getting access to clean water. Since we pratically never have problems accessing water I still think it's so baffling to believe that people around the world do not, which makes me feel very guilty. Besides the fact that the LifeStraw cleans water, I think it's great that they are so small, making it convienent for people to fit them in their homes.
ReplyDelete5. After learning a lot about water deprived places in the world over the past week and reading articiles like this one, I have been making a big effort not to waste water anymore. I would always open a water bottle, drink half of it and then put it down and not remember where I put it so I would just get a new one. Now I make sure to always keep track of my waters and never open a new one unless I have finished the one i was already drinking. I also do not leave the water on anymore as I brush my teeth and try to take quicker showers.