TO THE EDITOR:
Our campus and town was brought to a standstill last Friday when a series of unfortunate events led to a critical water shortage. Major health concerns arose regarding contaminated water, dehydration, proper sanitation for cleanliness and waste disposal. Now the waterpocalypse is a memory and a story to tell.
Unfortunately, 2.4 billion people across the globe live without adequate sanitation or clean water. In the three days we were inconvenienced by water shortage, thousands of people died as a result of the global water crisis. Rather than simply forgetting our ordeal, we can use it to motivate action. Motivate us to donate, to volunteer, to educate ourselves.
Many on our campus are already aware and fighting for water, sanitation and health (WaSH) for everyone through involvement with the Water Institute (waterinstitute.unc.edu). The Water Institute continues to improve access to WaSH through disseminating safe water research, leveraging this research to improve global policy and moving in practical ways to make a difference. Some of these ways include strategic partnerships with nonprofits like Water Mission (watermission.org) and World Vision Water (worldvision.org) to provide resources and mobilize volunteers.
Water Mission focuses on engineering individualized solutions for communities in need. Through World Vision Water you can sponsor children in need an ocean away and donate to the refugee crisis fund. At the very least take the time to educate yourself on what we can do. For many throughout the world, emergency supplies are not coming unless we decide to get up and move.
Davey West
Graduate student
