Water, Water, Not Everywhere
Ooh look, the Postman has come and delivered a package from Amazon. Wonder which book it is! I shall look after I've blogged etc. Thinx: I ordered all three at one go. Why don't they post all three together?
Even with the people and stuff being sent to Liberia aid agencies reckon it still isn't enough. Apparently they reckon we have just one month to contain the spread of Ebola. One month before it could really become everybody's problem! Now that cases of the disease have occurred in the UK, Europe and the US of course the 'Developed' world is getting it's act together and sending medics, trainers and equipment by the ship load. If only we'd taken more notice a few months ago we'd be unlikely to be in this situation now, hindsight is a wonderful thing. So is self-interest!
As the spread of Ebola can be curtailed by simple things like washing your hands and using bleach around your home this shows the value of ensuring that everyone has easy access to a source of clean, safe water. Liberia was at war for years. It's still in a right mess and most of the population have to share wells, streams (which may or may not be contaminated - with sewage, not Ebola), or stand pipes. If you don't have lots of easily accessible water then you're less likely to wash frequently. As for washing the home . . .
It is a matter of self-interest, as well as humanitarianism, to ensure that everyone can access clean, safe water easily. If people can wash easily diseases have a much lower chance of spreading. If they have safe drinking water there are any number of water-bourne diseases they won't catch - cholera, typhoid, typhus, dysentery, to mention a few. If they don't have these diseases then there's far less chance of them being transferred to other countries when infected people fly. As the meerkat says, "Simples!"
There are people 'out there' who are making huge profits from the Ebola crisis. That's private enterprise and capitalism for you, I suppose. They're the people who make and supply the protective suits, bleach, soap, also the person who goes round buying up disease website names. Apparently they've acquired 'ebola.com', among others. I wonder whether tney're one of the eighty-five people who now own half of the world's wealth? Honestly, there are goodness knows how many million people in the world, and eighty-five (85) own half of the world's wealth. No wonder there are so many poor people!
I don't know about you, Dear Reader, but I think this is obscene! I am angry about it, but unsure what to recommend. OK, so Bill and Melinda Gates are busily giving away loads of their stash. Good for them! Are they even in the 85? For that matter, while we are no billionaires, no millionaires even, I know that compared to many worldwide, many even in the UK, H and I are rich. When compared to many in the Third World we are rich beyond their wildest dreams - after all, we not only have access to clean, safe water. We have it piped into our home, we have three sets of taps, we have hot water. We also have an indoor bathroom, with piped sewage disposal - even if the ultimate end of that disposal is into Langstone Harbour! We have more than one room to live in, we have more than four rooms to live in. Then H is in paid employment, on fairly sociable hours. Employment which pays sufficient for us to live comfortably and then some. I could go on but there we are. Oh, we do our bit to ensure that our wealth gets redistributed. Heck, we even contact our MP on various issues. He's probably fed up with us, but he signed up for that job! But I'm still left wondering whether we actually do enough.
I do not write this to show how 'generous' we are, nor to make you feel uncomfortable, Dear Reader. Just to point up some of the differences, some of the inequalities there are and to wonder what can/should be done. What do you think, Dear Reader?
Y'all have a good day now!
Even with the people and stuff being sent to Liberia aid agencies reckon it still isn't enough. Apparently they reckon we have just one month to contain the spread of Ebola. One month before it could really become everybody's problem! Now that cases of the disease have occurred in the UK, Europe and the US of course the 'Developed' world is getting it's act together and sending medics, trainers and equipment by the ship load. If only we'd taken more notice a few months ago we'd be unlikely to be in this situation now, hindsight is a wonderful thing. So is self-interest!
As the spread of Ebola can be curtailed by simple things like washing your hands and using bleach around your home this shows the value of ensuring that everyone has easy access to a source of clean, safe water. Liberia was at war for years. It's still in a right mess and most of the population have to share wells, streams (which may or may not be contaminated - with sewage, not Ebola), or stand pipes. If you don't have lots of easily accessible water then you're less likely to wash frequently. As for washing the home . . .
It is a matter of self-interest, as well as humanitarianism, to ensure that everyone can access clean, safe water easily. If people can wash easily diseases have a much lower chance of spreading. If they have safe drinking water there are any number of water-bourne diseases they won't catch - cholera, typhoid, typhus, dysentery, to mention a few. If they don't have these diseases then there's far less chance of them being transferred to other countries when infected people fly. As the meerkat says, "Simples!"
There are people 'out there' who are making huge profits from the Ebola crisis. That's private enterprise and capitalism for you, I suppose. They're the people who make and supply the protective suits, bleach, soap, also the person who goes round buying up disease website names. Apparently they've acquired 'ebola.com', among others. I wonder whether tney're one of the eighty-five people who now own half of the world's wealth? Honestly, there are goodness knows how many million people in the world, and eighty-five (85) own half of the world's wealth. No wonder there are so many poor people!
I don't know about you, Dear Reader, but I think this is obscene! I am angry about it, but unsure what to recommend. OK, so Bill and Melinda Gates are busily giving away loads of their stash. Good for them! Are they even in the 85? For that matter, while we are no billionaires, no millionaires even, I know that compared to many worldwide, many even in the UK, H and I are rich. When compared to many in the Third World we are rich beyond their wildest dreams - after all, we not only have access to clean, safe water. We have it piped into our home, we have three sets of taps, we have hot water. We also have an indoor bathroom, with piped sewage disposal - even if the ultimate end of that disposal is into Langstone Harbour! We have more than one room to live in, we have more than four rooms to live in. Then H is in paid employment, on fairly sociable hours. Employment which pays sufficient for us to live comfortably and then some. I could go on but there we are. Oh, we do our bit to ensure that our wealth gets redistributed. Heck, we even contact our MP on various issues. He's probably fed up with us, but he signed up for that job! But I'm still left wondering whether we actually do enough.
I do not write this to show how 'generous' we are, nor to make you feel uncomfortable, Dear Reader. Just to point up some of the differences, some of the inequalities there are and to wonder what can/should be done. What do you think, Dear Reader?
Y'all have a good day now!