The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.

Thursday 6 September 2012

Water repossession (Part 2 of 2)

In my previous post I lamented the prioritising of military spending over that of access to safe, clean water for millions of refugees and others in the world.  Every week the world spends more than $33 billion dollars on its combined militaries.  That’s more than enough to reduce significantly the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.  It’s insane.

Meanwhile though, there is some sanity, at least at small local levels.  Here are two examples of individuals and small business attempting to repossess water on behalf of those without adequate access to one of the most precious resources on the planet.

Two women in Coffs Harbour, Australia, are cycling through Laos and Cambodia in an effort to bring water to some of the communities in those countries that lack access to safe, clean water.  In Laos the military connection raises its head in an extremely horrific way.  Laos was heavily bombed during the Vietnam/Laos war and today approximately 80 million tonnes of unexploded bombs remain there. The existence of these unexploded bombs make water collection a dangerous activity.

ChildFund Australia is undertaking the Laos Water Cycle in late November/early December to acquaint participating cyclists with the developmental issues facing communities in Laos. Each participating cyclist has a fundraising goal to reach and the women from Coffs Harbour have surpassed that.  Monies raised are being used to provide water tanks and toilets in three communities in a part of the country where 76% of households have little or no access to clean, safe water.

Across the world, in Nebraska USA, a relative of mine set out with a laudable mission: to invent and produce a single, revolutionary product that can permanently solve the water crisis for millions of people.  His non-profit organisation, Pure Water Revolution, had two goals.  The first was to “develop a simple and reliable water treatment system that provides a permanent source of high-purity, sterile water from any source of water, including ocean water, that can be easily deployed anywhere in the world.”  As Glenn proudly proclaims: “we succeeded”.

The second goal?  To raise sufficient funds to enable the system to be be fine tuned so that it can be used anywhere in the world.  By working with established non government organisations that have the infrastructure already in place Pure Water Revolution intends helping families gain access to clean and safe water.

How much is “sufficient funds”? Oh, about the amount that the World spends on its militaries every 18 seconds!

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