|
|
Post by Brooke Gentile on Feb 9, 2018 3:38:23 GMT
South Africa’s second-biggest city is faced with a deepening water crisis, blamed on a two-decade population boom and several years of drought(global news). The fact that Cape Town is South Africa's SECOND largest city, and has plenty of tourists visiting year round, it leaves there to be extreme levels of concern regarding the well being of the people. If I were a resident there, I would try to be as conservative as I could be with the little water that remained. And to go of of what Makayla said, it made me sick to read about how some people are taking advantage of their privileges by paying fines for using more water than was allowed(CNN), this water could be used for an infant's formula. "You cannot mix baby formula without water, so there are many mums in Cape Town who won't be able to feed their babies"(CNN) which is absolutely heartbreaking that there are people living there using the water for their pools, and yards rather than thinking of the well being of others. I feel that the government putting regulations on how much water people can use per day will be somewhat effective for the individuals that are concerned about this drout, it is said that residents are "encouraged"to report any suspected water abuse, which may or may not be helpful because not everyone will report this abuse. The government also is trying to regulate their showers to 90 seconds in order to limit the people's water usage to a larger extent. If Day Zero does arrive, many people would have to go to collection points guarded by security forces for a daily ration of 6.6 gallons(NBC). In order to prevent day zero people across the world have been using social media in order to raise awareness and resources for the people of Cape Town. This social media usage attracted the people in East London, and spread the word that they were encouraged to donate 2 5 liter jugs of water, and surprisingly the turnout ended up being over 30 tons of water. i also looked up a little more info on Cape Town, and "Day Zero" has actually been pushed back from April 16 to Ma 11 because of the water gathered by social media, and a decline in the use of water by farmers. www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/africa/cape-town-day-zero-intl/?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion This water shortage is fast approaching, and I hope that the people of Cape Town are ready. |
|
|
|
Post by Brooke Gentile on Feb 9, 2018 3:42:19 GMT
Do you feel that the people are doing anything and everything in their power to prevent this water shortage from happening?
Also do you think that social media helps this cause in a more efficient way than the military or government? Why or why not.
|
|
|
|
Post by Maya Borland on Feb 9, 2018 4:06:36 GMT
Cape Town is losing more and more water by the day, and every day that they do Day Zero comes closer. Without any assistance form any other country or organisation the people of Cape Town with have no water by April 12. The date of Day Zero was originally April 22 but do to people using more water than was instructed. Thankfully for Cape Town people in neighboring cities have heard what is going on and have wanted to help. Talita van der Heever lives in East London and heard about Day Zero and decided to help by telling the world. "I went to the bathroom, flushed my toilet and recorded it on my phone saying, 'This sound of toilet flushing and tab opening is the sound we take for granted in our everyday life, and in Cape Town this sound is going to disappear soon,'" van der Heever said.” (CNN) By caring about others and wanting to make a difference in their lives Mrs. Heever will save hundreds of lives. Her campaign WhatsApp has spread to neighboring cities like Johannesburg, and Durban. Those cities have been asked to donate five liter bottles of water to send to Cape Town. Sofar over 10,000 Lites have been sent to Cape Town. This is not the only campaign that has decided to help the people of Cape Town. Mrs. Heever’s message inspired Gift of the Givers to start donating as well. Without these people caring for others and waiting to take action that none of these donations would have made it to Cape Town and everything would be taking a much different turn.
Without these water donations Day Zero would be approaching much faster. The date has already been moved up once from people using to much water. If these same people decide to keep over using the water supply than Day Zero will be their fault. But punishing them might be a little too siveer. If the same group of people keep over using water then a show of force should then be used. In order for these people to not have to worry about over using water is for more donations to come through until the dams refill. Cities in Africa are reading social media post and responding to what they have seen. The social media chain is large and vast there is no way that anyone in the US and other countries have not heard of the dilemma that is happening in Cape Town. One could say that other countries are seeing the post on the web but it does not have the same effect on them. With the problem being so close to home for East London, Johannesburg, and Durban The people there could take a drive down to Cape Town and see it first hand. It is also easier to donate water when one lives on the same continent. Nonetheless other countries should help Cape Town before the people there have to move in order to survive. The the US and other countries could have immigrant problems. We should help to solve the symptoms of the problem before it turns into a megger crisess for everyone.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ricky Mineo on Feb 9, 2018 5:03:44 GMT
Cape Town, the second largest city in Africa (the whole continent), is running dry. The supply of clean water is nearing an end and the citizens are very worried. Mezzofiore from CNN talks about how many mothers living in the South African region are fearing the worst for their children. Talita van der Heever fears that she will be unable to feed her newborn baby without water to mix baby formula. According to NBC news, city officials are putting limits on water usage before the taps run dry. To put it into perspective, residents of Cape Town are strongly encouraged to use less than 13.2 gallons of clean water per day while the average American uses between 80 and 100 gallons of clean water per day. If Cape Town reaches Day Zero, it will be because citizens are not following the guidelines set out by the government. Once Day Zero approaches, every person will not be able to use their taps, they will need to go to a water collection point to collect their rationed amount of water from a security officer. I do not believe that the regulations will effect people at the moment because they can lie about how much water they are reportedly using at the moment. Social media is making the largest impact so far in moving back Day Zero. It is reported that East London has collected 30 tons of water for the Cape Town Citizens. If social media can keep the awareness of the issue, they should have no problem on helping this natural disaster in a major way.
|
|
|
|
Post by Olivia Girdwood on Feb 9, 2018 14:31:12 GMT
jonah I get what you are trying to say about the rest of the world having water and it not being fair. When taken into consideration, though, that South Africa has high temperature year round, barely ever falling below 50 degree Fahrenheit, should it not have been on the minds of the people that some water evaporates and that in hotter weather people usually need to drink more water? Therefore there may not always be enough fresh water? Another thing that should be questioned is why have the people not moved? Why are they staying where the water available is in jeopardy? I do not believe that heftier fines will work. Putting higher fines may lead to more crimes regarding the water shortage, nothing is going to stop people from getting one of life's basic necessities.
|
|
|
|
Post by Olivia Girdwood on Feb 9, 2018 14:36:52 GMT
brooke I love hat you brought up the point about the mothers, it is a very powerful emotional appeal. You mentioned how if you were there, you would try to be as conservative as you could, but what if you had a child? would you go over the limit on water if it meant having to support you and the baby? With the fact that people are just paying the fines and using the water any way they wish, there may be a need for a harsher reprimand than just a fine. Do you think actions would change if the people were going to be thrown in jail, or even worse yet, restricted to even less water than anyone else (and if they go over they are tried for crimes against humanity and keeping valuable resources for those who could actually use it and are dehydrated)?
|
|
|
|
Post by Brooke Gentile on Feb 9, 2018 15:30:47 GMT
Okay if I were to have a child in these conditions of course I would go above and beyond in order to support my child's needs. I agree that some people going over could be using it to support their family while others are using it for selfish reasons like for their yard and or pools. I do believe that there should be a harsher reprimand than just a fine, because the people that have enough money can go over as much as they would like to every day, which in the long run harms everyone around them. Having a "harsher" punishment would most definitely stop a good majority of the individuals exceeding the daily water amounts. I do feel however that if the consequence is jail time, they should most definitely be tried for crimes against humanity and keeping valuable resourced for those who are in need of it, if and only if the individuals that have gone over are using it for selfish reasons and not going over the limit in order to feed their families.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brooke Gentile on Feb 9, 2018 15:31:32 GMT
@olivia ^
|
|
|
|
Post by maddy Crighton on Feb 10, 2018 17:25:49 GMT
brooke To answer your one question, I do not believe that EVERYONE is doing everything they can to save water supplies. The one article said that people use amounts that exceed the limits and are just happy to pay the fines. Maybe if they increased the fine to a ridiculous amount people would be more likely to save the water and do anything they can to preserve it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Maddy Crighton on Feb 10, 2018 17:34:49 GMT
@maya B I love how you brought the discussion of Mrs. Heever into your response. Isn't it amazing what one person can do alone with just the help of social media. I also agree with you that there is no way that other countries have not heard of this crisis. If Ricky was able to find it on the internet then other countries must have too. They should be willing to step up and send in help. I understand that this may be difficult bu it is certainly not impossible.
|
|
|
|
Post by Laura Gutauskas on Feb 10, 2018 17:48:17 GMT
“Do you feel that the people are doing anything and everything in their power to prevent this water shortage from happening?
Also do you think that social media helps this cause in a more efficient way than the military or government? Why or why not.”
@brookegentile It’s obvious that the citizens in Cape Town only have a select few people who are actually following what the government is urging them to partake in to conserve water. Some of them are even going beyond what is requested of them by sacrificing even more water, although this just barely counters the amount of people who are exceeding their quota every single day. There’s a reason the predicted “Day Zero” keeps creeping up sooner and sooner. I think that using social media to their advantage is one of the best options they have; it has already proved to be successful with South London’s contribution. Plus, the government can only help curb the amount of water that is CONSERVED but they can’t just bring back more water, unlike other countries that are offering to donate. Letting more people know about this crisis is the best way to get help and social media is the quickest way to do that.
|
|
|
|
Post by Barbie Cessar on Feb 10, 2018 23:02:45 GMT
@meghan I completely agree with your response. "This problem is not entirely caused by the citizens of South Africa, it was created by a drought and worsened by irresponsible water usage." It is obvious that not everyone is doing what they can to conserve water in order to delay Day Zero. Unfortunately using less water does not totally fix the situation. "These problems need to be solved, but it would be much better for them to be prevented by addressing the root of the problem." I also agree with this statement by addressing the root of the problem. But my question is how do they address the root of the problem? It seems to me that this drought in Cape Town is making it unbearable to even sustain human life. Should they give up entirely and move to a different location to let nature run its course?
|
|
|
|
Post by Brooke Gentile on Feb 11, 2018 14:52:28 GMT
@ Barbie
Do you believe water is a privilege or a right? Why?
I believe just for the fact that we all need water to survive that water is a human right. The definition of human rights is simply-a right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person. I don't know about you, but I firmly believe that water easily fits into that category. Water should be a human right being that not one of us could survive without it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Meghan Miller on Feb 11, 2018 21:24:19 GMT
@ Olivia To address your question we must first address a few more. First, who is supposed to be distributing the water to people? If no one distributes the water, then there is no way for citizens to use the water. Second, do the citizens know about the water? If the citizens do not know about the water being sent, how will they address trying to get it? Third, are most of the citizens aware how bad their water shortage really is? As you noted form the NBC article, many people keep using water for non-necessities and wasting it on trite things, like swimming pools, do you think that they are aware how much they are hurting themselves? Your question needs so much background knowledge on the situation that I am not sure we can answer it adequately.
|
|
|
|
Post by Meghan Miller on Feb 11, 2018 21:57:44 GMT
@maya French The people protesting seem to be protesting the wrong thing. They are protesting against the government, which is trying to conserve water so that people can live (since you can not live without water). To make the protesting worth the effort, these people should be protesting outside of the houses that refuse to conserve water (the people mentioned in the NBC article that would rather pay fines than have a brown lawn). Constant protests outside of these people's houses may have more of an impact on the water reserves than protesting regulations to conserve water. Right now, these protests are out of line, but their energy could be diverted to help the water problem.
|
|
