Have you ever thought of water as a privilege? We have access to clean water whenever we want, all we have to do is turn on the tap. Have you ever considered how often you flush the toilet in a day? Or how much water must have been needed to produce the food you are eating?

No? Well, you are probably not the only one. It is easy to take the access to clean water for granted as we have never been confronted with such things as water scarcity, such problems are far away from our reality. However, for many people in developing countries, these are exactly the realities they face. To give you some hard facts, the average daily water usage in the Netherlands ranges around 110 litres a day, while a person in rural Uganda uses about 15 litres a day. Shockingly, one in nine people does not have adequate access to safe water. For the water, that runs so automatically out of the tap in the western world, women and children will be walking on average 6 kilometres, not only exposing themselves to a lot of dangers and risks, but also missing out on an education and the chance to pursue paid work.

You might now be wondering why I am so eager to highlight this topic? Simply, my motivation to give water scarcity so much attention is my encounter with a very inspirational person, Fiona Jeffery. Being the chair of the Civitas charity committee in UCG, we have made it our mandate not not only serve ourselves with Caerus’ events but also attach a good cause. This year, Civitas has embraced their partnership with the international organisation Just a Drop, which is a charity based in the UK that works at grassroots level to support local communities in underdeveloped areas with sanitation and safe water solutions whilst also providing education on hygiene practices. By collaborating with Just a Drop, we are hoping to amplify the effect the organisation has throughout the world but also to raise awareness about the issue of water scarcity.

Fiona  came all the way from London to engage with the students and give them an insight into her organization. Her pathway is indeed quite remarkable – She started off as medical student, then doing an arts degree and ending up in the travel industry. Being disillusioned at some point from the corporate environment, Fiona decided she wanted to dedicate herself to making a difference, and that’s where it all started, 20 years ago, to be specific. 
Ever since, she has been active in Africa, Latin America, South-East Asia, the middle East and even Eastern Europe. Just a Drops main role entails the construction of sand-dams, wells and pumps but also building latrines and washing facilities particularly for schools. Apart from that, Just a Drop is also providing sex education in schools, particularly about topics such as menstrual hygiene. During her encounter with the local communities, Fiona soon discovered that many girls faced uncertainty and often even felt threatened when experiencing their period for the first time. Reason for this is the lack of knowledge associated with it. 
From one of her first visits to Uganda, Fiona still exactly recalls the image of a young girl, in the river struggling to lift this heavy 20 litre canister of water. Her name is Carol, she is around 13 years old and lives with her grandparents as her parents belong to the many victims of the AIDS epidemic. Carol travels a long distance from her village to get water at the river and unfortunately she does not have access to education.  Especially personal encounters like these have driven Fiona to use the resources in abundance to change things. Carols story serves as prove: Ever since her village has access to a pump, her family has been doing a lot better, is a lot healthier and can now reallocate the time they are saving by not having to fetch water from the river every day.

Lifting heavy water canisters in young age can also have tremendous effects on health, especially women often suffer complications related to physical deformities, this can even go as far as causing them to have miscarriages. Being the source for water borne diseases such as diarrheal illnesses, dirty water is the biggest killer for children under 5. However, the burden lies not only with water itself but also the journey linked to fetching water. Fiona relates to cases where children have been abducted in order to be recruited as fighters and girls that have been rape. Walking long distances through the bush also exposes women and children to the risks of becoming the targets of wild animals.

It is not uncommon that Humanitarian aid turns out to be a double-edged sword. If development projects are not sufficiently implemented, they run the risk of doing even more damage. My Brother for example has just returned from Columbia, where he conducted research for his master thesis. He experienced at first hand, how poorly built dams collapsed, flooding and destroying an entire village. Other problems associated with humanitarian aid are also lacking consideration of cultural norms and local needs. A feasible example is India and projects that aim at tackling open defecation by introducing latrines.
What is especially at the heart of Fiona’s foundation, is the principle of development instead of aid. Just a Drop lays a lot of emphasis of working with community based structures, meaning that they provide the relevant expertise and logistics for the projects but adapt it to the needs of the community whilst the community takes responsibility for the project and is also trained on effectively maintaining the facilities. By also monitoring the projects for a long time after completing them, Just a Drop ensures the sustainability of their work. 

I could clearly see that Fiona’s presentation had sparked a lot of curiosity amongst her audience. She received a lot of questions, especially since many of us at UCG could imagine choosing a similar pathway. Yet, there is a lot of uncertainties for us: Of course nobody pursues a humanitarian career with the objective of making money, but will it ensure us to pay our bills and even live a comfortable life? Another student asked Fiona for advice: Many of us share the ambition of wanting to make world a better place, but where exactly do we start? Speaking from her heart and her personal experiences, Fiona  exposed us to a facette that we do not usually see. I often find myself between naively idealizing my future in the humanitarian sector, forgetting the amount of strength and consistency I must be willing to bring up. However, I still remember Fiona’s words: “Would I have not been naïve in the beginning, then I would not be where I am today”. 
I am sure, everybody was able to take something home from that event and I am really glad Civitas has made a successful intro into the year. I hope it could also stimulate people to reflect on their water use and try to minimize it in the future. After having lived with a latrine and a bucket shower for a year while having to filter my drinking water, I have really come to value the access to unlimited amount of drinking water I have here but I am also aware of the fact that we should not abuse it. 

For now, I say cheers to many more events and in case one or the other wants to dig a little deeper into the topic, you can find the link to Just A Drop’s webpage below. Also, one of my fellow students Yoram, member of the journalism committee SLASH, has written a brilliant article on the issue of water scarcity.

If that got you interested, SLASH also publishes articles twice a week about different topics, so don’t hesitate to check them out on the Caerus webpage every now and then. 

Best wishes,

Eva

Just  a Drop: https://www.justadrop.org