Dancing for Water is Fine, But It Doesn’t Get Water to the Thirsty
Artists around the world, and one in space, joined together Friday in an unprecedented performance to celebrate water.
From his perch on the International Space Station, Canadian space tourist Guy Laliberte orchestrated an event of song, dance poetry and acrobatics in 14 cities worldwide. The two-hour show, called “Moving Stars and Earth for Water,” was broadcast online at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 Oct. 10 GMT) at Onedrop.org.
Laliberte, the founder of circus troupe Cirque du Soleil, staged the event through his non-profit ONE DROP Foundation to raise awareness for water conservation. Performers in each location read part of a poem about water, composed by Canadian writer Yann Martel, author of “Life of Pi.”
“Together we can hope to create a change,” Laliberte said during the performance. “All for water, water for all.”
Well, sure, we can dance and recite poetry and “hope to create a change” or, and this is a really crazy idea, we can actually get water to people who need water.
Would you like to know the major reason that people in African nations don’t have enough water for farming or drinking? It’s not because there isn’t enough water. There is. Water is one of the eailest compounds to synthesize. Its components, oxygen and hydrogen, are ridiculously plentiful. It’s because they live in abject poverty thanks to brutal dictatorial regimes and they simply don’t have the ability to create the wealth that can bring them water. They can’t keep the equipment in good repair because it’s constantly menaced by thugs. Aid groups are hampered by government corruption and outright hostility. “Raising awareness” is all well and good but it doesn’t matter one bit if we can’t get to the people to give them the equipment they need, if we can’t train them to maintain and use the equipment correctly, if we can’t teach them how to make the equipment themselves, and if they can’t keep the equipment safe and build the means to make more themselves.
See, we know how to drill wells and create water, seemingly from the air (actually, literally from the air). We can solve the technological and logistical problems with surprising ease. What we can’t solve easily are the human problems, mostly because we’re not trying very hard.
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Category: The World At Large
