WHERE THE NAME CAME FROM

So, you want to know where the term "Itchy Water" came from? Well, it is not that easy to explain because it did not materialize from a specific event. Rather, the name came from my light research of water problems around the world. Here in America, we don't have water problems. Sure we talk about conservation, but it is nothing like that in the developing countries. In America we don't discuss one of the biggest problems developing countries face: the lack of water available for its people.

So you say, ok, but where did the name come from? It came from my desire to always be thankful every time I turn on a faucet, every time I flush a toilet, every time I take a shower, or water the garden. I want to be in remembrance of the 38% of the world's population that don't have access to sanitation facilities and the people who have no option but to get their water from sources that are polluted with excreta, sewage and trash.

One-fifth of the deaths in children is caused by diarrhea from drinking contaminated water. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Drinking dirty, stagnant water can cause Guinea Worm Disease. Guinea Worm Disease is caused by a worm growing inside the body; it can grow up to three feet in length. That makes me itch! This water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

I know all this is sounds depressing, but what makes it truly disturbing is that it is true and people are dying every day because they do not have the resources to create a sustainable water system. Another sad and alarming fact: more people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. This is not speculation, this is fact.

But just as troubling, major news networks like CNN devote coverage to politicians that tweet racy photographs of themselves, facebook updates, superstars that wear meat as clothing, and what city is the fattest. The media does not always show the ugly side of the world because we don't want to see it. But I do. I want to help. I want to be thankful for what I have. I never want to have water that is polluted, water that makes me itch.

This may not be the climax you were hoping for, but it's the truth. I hope it makes you think about water too. Who knows? We might run out of our non-itchy water one day.


Editor's Pick 11/23/11