COULD YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT ANY WATER?

COULD YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT ANY WATER?

In our daily lives we are often confronted with endless examples of disaster and personal tragedy. We are well aware of hurricanes in the Bahamas, earthquakes in Japan, wild fires in California and tornadoes in central US. Snowstorms bury New York regularly and major floods decimate thousands in countries all over the world. We are readily sympathetic, feel sorry for victims, and may even be moved enough to make some charitable donation. Within days however, the sufferings of thousands are usually flushed from our minds and we carry on with our lives. I guess this is normal behaviour when one is not directly affected.

Today, I would like to just stop for one moment (or one blog) to examine in more depth the actual realities that are experienced by the victims of one tragedy that exists today. I have chosen the event in Zimbabwe where the government has shut off the water supply to over 2 MILLION residents. The decision has resulted from years of drought, contaminated water reservoirs and the high cost of water treatment in this impoverished African nation. Residents can line up for hours to obtain 20 litres of water a day. Can you imagine the chaos and stress?

On a personal level, if the two million residents of Calgary and Edmonton were informed that there was no longer a safe water supply and we would be without water, it would mean:
no water for drinking or cooking
no water for washing machines or dishwashers
no water for showers or baths
no water for personal hygiene or tooth brushing
no water for cooking or coffee (imagine that!)
no water for sanitizing any item or object
no water for toilets or washrooms

If there were no water available, except in very small amounts:
could schools stay open without toilet facilities?
would hospitals be able to cope?
how would all downtown businesses deal with it?
we would close laundromats, carwashes and greenhouses
lawns, shrubs and bushes would soon die
could any restaurant or food outlet survive?

If this condition were very short term, most of us would cope. On the other hand, if it extended for weeks and months, what would happen? Besides the obvious unsanitary conditions that would evolve very quickly, various diseases would begin to flourish. We would also be faced by an increasingly angry and agitated community. Any water source would be hoarded and whenever any commodity becomes scarce, people tend to become more militant and aggressive. Would we see mob violence and lawlessness? How would you visualize life in your home, in Calgary, after months without water? How often and how long would you stand in line to collect 20 litres? It’s a pretty frightening  scenario in my mental movie!

When I think about the current situation in Zimbabwe after my little reflection, I become much more sensitized to their reality. Although I don’t know that I will act much differently, I do know that I have much greater sympathy and empathy.

Again, we are reminded how much we take for granted the simple task of turning on the tap to obtain clean water and how blessed we are to be living in Canada!