Look further.
See the water tank on top of the hill? That's water from the glaciers in the Andes. That natural source gives water to 70% of the population in Lima. Where there is housing, water tanks are placed on top of the roofs and fall with gravity through each unit below. (Perhaps that is why my shower has super weak water pressure since I'm on the top, it's more like a spit in the face than a shower!) Nontheless, the water is provided to residential units all over Lima.
So, I pointed to the one million shantee towns in the background and asked if they too get water. "Yes, offcourse!" was the answer. "Dirty water".
Although two thirds of the human body by weight is composed of water, this water is needed for circulation and other bodily processes, including respiration and converting food to energy. If you are loosing more water than you are taking in, dehydration will occur. It has been shown that if you lose just 2.5% of your body weight from water loss, you will loose 25% of your efficiency. For a 175 pound (ca 80kg) man that is only about two quarts of water. As the person in the shantees dehydrates his blood becomes thicker and looses volume. This causes the heart to work harder and circulation of blood to be less efficient. In a survival situation, loosing a full one quarter of your physical and mental abilities due to dehydration could mean the end of your life. (source: www.survivaltopics.com)
If access to broadband can be a law in Finland, then clean drinking water should be brought to the level of being a human right.
How much of a lifestyle (?) impact does the water situation present...water is taken for granted in the States, like flipping a switch...
ReplyDeleteHow much time/effort is dedicated in a day for people in the shantytowns to acquire, clean (?), and store water?
Lifestyle for the barriadas is a question I am still in the dark on. I will head out in a week to an enormous shantee town to better understand how they actually aquire dirty water, and how they use it.
ReplyDeleteIn this shantee I have been informed that the conditions are in the extreme poverty level and that people live next to pig "farms" which is technically a garbage disposal.
More to come.