Water Is Life: Earth Day Reflection

This Thursday April 22, will be the fourtieth Earth Day I have lived through. But I have lived on this Earth approximately 18,697 days and there has not been one day where this Earth has failed to provide for all of my needs in every sense. And because of this, I pledged a long time ago to do my part as a citizen of this Earth to do all I can to preserve its beauty, mystery, and the systems that provide for our sustenance. That is what Earth Day is all about. It is about remembering all our Earth gives to us and paying homage to her and pledging to do all we can to do the same for her.

However, on this Earth Day as on many other days before I am filled with hope yet sadness at seeing how we humans on the whole do not understand this message. Climate change combined with pollution now threaten to place our Earth on a collision course with catastrophe as we push the limitations of the very systems that give us life. We have become detached from Earth even though we live here. The beauty of a sunrise, a clear mountain stream, a tree, and now even the soul satisfying practice of tilling our own soil have been depraved by those who care little for the essence of Earth beyond what they can sell it for.

So on this Earth Day as I have for almost every other of the approxomate 18,697 days I have lived here, I will pay homage to the magnificence of a planet unlike any other. A planet of unsurpassed beauty and potential.

And I will never give up in doing all I can to preserve this giver of all life.

And I will blog. And I will speak out. And I will take action. And I will fight.

For our Earth. Our home.

For without her, there is nothing else.

P.S. to Mother Earth: Thank you.

Happy Earth Day.

Water Is Life: Women and water: a new beginning

2010 West African Women & Water Training Program from Unseen Pictures on Vimeo.

"We are living in a time when Women's voices must be heard, considered and respected at every level. Recognizing women's vital role in the environment...is essential for a future of security and peace."

Dr. Wangari Maathai
Nobel Laureate

In the previous instalment to this series, the struggles and dangers women face regarding collecting water and living in water stressed areas was illustrated. This entry deals with the solutions and one specific group, the Global Women's Water Initiative that is doing something wonderful to tackle this crisis and to provide the training, skills, networking and funding needed to generate water service projects across Africa.

Women not only play a vital role in the environment but also in the social and economic fabric of the globe. When women are given the tools to lead, change comes. The solutions to many of our world's most challenging crises rest on giving women those tools. Clean water leads to education, which leads to economic freedom, which leads to progress, health, food, and peace.

This uplifting video shows the beginning steps of what should spread like wildfire across our planet...turning stories of hopelessness and struggle into stories of hope and triumph.