Water

for the Oxford Twestival 2009, in Aid of the Water & Sanitation programme in Mali.

Water is life, water is death,

Water brings food, but takes away breath.

First there are torrents which carry off men,

Then we pray for it again.

We give people water, they piss it away;

They piss in the river where children play.

It buds mosquitos and carries disease,

But holds of the sun by feeding the trees.

Water flows white, brown, and henna-red;

It keeps the dust down, keeps the cattle fed.

A boy washes in four cups of it,

Yet you use six cups just to flush your shit.

You tell me it’s dull, spit it down the sink;

Here death comes at forty for lack of a drink.

© Ellen McAteer

So far we have not really posted about our cause yet. We have decided to continue the narrative of water from last event, but this time in support of a charity which is traditionally associated with our city - Oxfam.

Before I move on to details of the Mali project we are supporting in September, let me just remind you what we did in February:

Now, Oxfam is present in many parts of the world and we could focus only on one of them to help bringing a change in living conditions of 45,000 people in Mali where access to drinking water and sanitation conditions are poor. Life expectancy of 53 years, chronic food shortages, alarming malnutrition rates are only few facts from the region we are talking about. But Oxfam is there already since 1988 and what they plan to do now will build on their achievements so far. This projects has a very impressive agenda, here is what Oxfam plans to do:

• ‘Construct or rehabilitate 20 new or existing water points to provide safe, clean drinking water. Water will be tested to verify quality.
• Organise and train 20 local water management committees to operate, maintain and manage the
  water points. Each committee will include at least one local technician.
• Construct sanitation facilities in six local health centres, using low-cost design and technology
  for sustainability.
• Implement an awareness-raising campaign to spread vital messages about good health, hygiene and baby feeding. This includes recruiting and training 60 community health volunteers, 15 local health workers and members of 20 women’s groups to support the campaign. Health promotion will also take place through cookery demonstrations, radio, drama groups and using educational materials created with the help of a local artist.
• Enable community organisations and local authorities to manage water and sanitation facilities and public health activities in the region. This will include training activities and the joint development of a strategy for water resource management and reducing the impact of disasters such as droughts.’ (taken from leaflet we’ve received from Oxfam)

By supporting Oxford Twestival: sponsoring, buying a charity ticket or buying an event ticket and joining us next Sunday you can help make it happen yourself!

Here is how they plan to use the donations:

Here is your chance to spend an evening with friends, have a beer, listen to quality performances and all this for a good cause!;)