Stories of water

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dede2002
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Stories of water




by dede2002 » 25/01/15, 22:25

Hello,

Here is a story that happened recently in a village in Mozambique.
In this village, women have to walk far enough to fetch water from the river and do laundry.
“Well-intentioned” passing people, in this case an NGO responsible for spending money in the framework of “development aid”, decided to install a borehole with a hand pump in the village. This of course in order to lighten the burden of these poor women.
The pump quickly broke down, many times even, in fact it was not breakdowns but sabotage ...
Finally we found the culprits, it was the women of the village!
Why? Simply because the "water chore" was the only moment of relaxation they had during the day, while with the pump they had to stay in the village 24 hours a day, with the men ...

---

In the following text by Jean-Paul Pougala, which I invite you to comment on, we find a story that begins the same, but ends differently.

http://pougala.org/la-guerre-de-leau-en ... t-leurope/

To bring water to the mill, an article that confirms the presence of water researchers in Africa.

http://www.courrierinternational.com/ar ... -eau-douce

A+
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 26/01/15, 00:41

Looking at the worldometer counters http://www.worldometers.info/fr/ One of the few numbers to move in the right direction is the number of people who do not have access to safe drinking water, which decreases by about one per second.

But it is perhaps two per second who gain drinking water in the "third world", minus one person who loses it in industrialized countries ??

And here we are comparing bananas and carrots, because unsafe water in the "third world" is generally contaminated with pathogens, amoeba, cholera, etc., which can kill very quickly.
We can easily make the connection of the cause to the effect, but we get rid of the problem by boiling the water.
Unsafe water in an industrialized country is rather contaminated by chemicals, estrogens, antibiotics, nitrates, etc. It kills slowly, so it's more difficult to link the cause to the effect, and it's not enough to boil the water to make it drinkable ...
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Ahmed
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by Ahmed » 26/01/15, 12:10

As much as I appreciate your analysis and lucid comments in all of your communications, as I am reserved on the content of the sources (no pun intended!) That you produce in your penultimate post.
In particular, the statements of JP Pougala are a really whimsical mix that discourages criticism ...

As for the article on Madagascar (seriously, it), it concerns a hypothetical export of water to desert countries, nothing to do with Europe.
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 26/01/15, 19:05

Hi Ahmed,

Do not be discouraged for so little ... :P

We can see that as a caricature, which wants to be disturbing.
It is not by bottling water that we will change the world, but we manage to send pallets of French water to Africa, the opposite would be science fiction ...
The fish of the Rhone downstream of Geneva, the fishermen know that they do not have the right to sell them, it is not a fantasy.
Unfortunately in Africa (contrary to what he writes), pesticide pollution and worse has already begun in places.

Otherwise I think that Mr. Pougala's "caricatures" go beyond the subject (in this case water), he tries to show Africans how the society we call here "sprawling merchant capitalism" is crashing into the wall honking.

And especially their current role in this race.

But sometimes he uses the same arguments that he denounces ...

In the "science fiction" scenarios for Africa, she who largely feeds this society which rushes by honking, if it follows by running one can imagine worse ...?

Now, to interpret this text without getting out of the water, it is of the first degree actually fanciful.

For example, he does not even talk about DDT, yet there are plenty of it everywhere in France, in water among others, 40 years after its "ban" ...

A+

ps: the first story in Mozambique is authentic, but here too water is not the most important of the subject.
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by Ahmed » 26/01/15, 20:44

I did not quite understand the reason that led you to quote from this text of Pougala, sorry!

For Mozambique, this is a pretty clear illustration of the socially destructive power of technology.
It is on a small scale what is happening on a large scale in the West ... Transhumanism being the ultimate stage of technicist fantasy.
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 26/01/15, 21:19

She has good back technique, in this village they probably have plenty of technical solutions not mentioned, if only for the construction of their homes.
There it is the "technical proselytism" which poses a problem, the "I come to your place to tell you what you need", as in the days of the missionaries ...
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 26/01/15, 22:15

To create a diversion, or to get back into the water, I can tell the story of a "similar" project that I saw up close, and which ended better.
It was a very small ngo, the budget was 2 guy and two pickups (for 2 places, I only knew one). The goal was to collect water to bring water to villages, along a river where at night it is dangerous to fetch water because of crocodiles.
So initially it was at the request of the inhabitants, the search for the source and the route with the inhabitants and the elders, the village chiefs, those who know everything about the place. The site idem the ngo provided only the cement, and then fountains and catchments everyone took care!
There was a need, and a simple and durable technical solution.
But "not expensive enough" to be an example ...?
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by Ahmed » 27/01/15, 18:15

For the sake of brevity, I spoke awkwardly and apologize.
I meant that any technique imposed without taking into account the real needs of the users or (other case) to exercise a power, is harmful.
It goes without saying that any technique is not to be avoided, of course! This would be impossible because the least of our actions involves the use of techniques (walking, talking ...).

The tricky point is to determine the right dose and then make sure that it is taken into account, knowing that by definition all that can be done will be done...

To return more directly to the subject, I also participated (by far, alas!) In water supply projects: wells shut and closed, with a rustic hand pump.
The last project was particularly well "tied up": in addition to the well, an arrangement in bunds to retain water in the wet season and shrub plantations providing shade and mulching materials for the soil, all integrated into a formation. to permaculture.
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 28/01/15, 07:33

You are all excused :P

In fact it is I who thank you for your answers!

What you wrote about "real needs" is correct, but it depends on who decides what is a "real need", and for whom ...

A good day.
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dede2002
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by dede2002 » 29/01/15, 21:34

Water, source of life and death : Cry:
This is the beginning of the cyclone season, much more water than it takes to live ...

http://www.orange.mg/actualite/madagasc ... -lance-sos
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