wfn.org | 'Wasting Water Was a Taboo'

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

'Wasting Water Was a Taboo'
LWF Regional Consultation Explores a Faith-Based Approach to Water
Problems

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 4 May 2005 (LWI) * "Wasting water and playing with
water were the important taboos that children were taught to observe from
an early age. We could have weekly showers," Rev. Dr Peri Rasolondraibe
said of his childhood in a volcanic region of southern Madagascar where
rains came only every three years.

Rasolondraibe, a pastor of the Malagasy Lutheran Church, and former
director of the Department for Mission and Development (DMD) of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) was narrating his story to participants
attending the April 25*29 LWF African region consultation on water under
the theme "Stirring the Waters" in Kenya's capital Nairobi.

The meeting organized by the LWF/DMD Desk for Women in Church and Society
(WICAS) was a second follow-up consultation to a call from the July 2003
LWF Tenth Assembly to develop an action plan on water. The gathering
brought together around 40 participants drawn from LWF member churches in
Africa, field programs of the Department for World Service, and ecumenical
bodies in the region.

"I see total disrespect and arrogance when water (rivers, sea and oceans)
home of myriad of living creatures is used as a dumping place for
industrial and toxic wastes," Rasolondraibe said, referring to water
pollution worldwide.

"Desertification is [increasing] around the world, millions of people are
unable to access safe drinking water, rivers and waterways are either
dried up or severely polluted," he added.

He noted that many African countries had experienced destructive effects
of drought in the past few years, a situation blamed on climatic changes,
although human responsibility toward environmental care could not be
overlooked. He further explained that the world was faced with issues of
"commercialization of water for private gains," with leading international
financial bodies pushing for water privatization apparently to promote
efficiency.

However, organizations like the LWF were increasingly advocating water
issues, according to Rasolondraibe, who was DMD director from May 1995
until March 2005."When water is turned into a commodity by private
enterprises the question of human rights*basic rights need to be addressed," he stressed.

Although water issues are well addressed by many international aid
agencies mainly through a right-based approach, participants in the LWF
regional consultation explored a faith-based approach. They discussed
global progress and identified local contexts that helped to promote
proactive engagement in water issues.

Giving an overview on preservation, responsible management and equitable
distribution of water, Rogate Mshana, Program Executive, Economic Justice,
at the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), Justice, Peace and
Creation Team noted that only 58 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan
Africa had access to improved water services. "Corporations see investment
in water as a fast growing business. It is estimated to be an annual
billion-dollar industry, 40 percent the size of the oil sector and
one-third larger than pharmaceuticals," he said.

Mshana reiterated that some 1.1 billion people do not have access to
potable water and 2.2 million in developing countries were dying annually
from water-borne diseases, most of them children.

He cited the inequality of water distribution globally: millions of women
mainly in the global south walk long distances to fetch water for domestic
use, while millions of liters of water go to waste daily. "Fifty percent
of fresh water is wasted through leakage, which is cited as the reason for
putting a price on water especially where water is regarded as free or
under-priced to the extent that the cost of collecting, cleaning and
distributing it is not covered," Mshana said

Asked about alternatives to the problem, the WCC executive remarked,
"water should remain a public trust and not a commodity. Governments and
communities should manage its protection, consumption and distribution."

Speaking about poverty and the water crisis in Africa, Prof. Jesse
Mugambi, Department of Religious Studies, University of Nairobi, said
"those at the top" needed to interact with the grassroots in order to make
water accessible to all. "We must begin with rainwater harvesting. The
technology must be locally owned and managed. Communities should also grow
plants they cultivated in the past as that is what had adapted to the
environment," he recommended. (695 words)

(By Nairobi-based LWI correspondent, Lillian Kemunto.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication,
and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
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