#water poverty

[sheltiechicago]

The artist shining a light on water poverty in Ethiopia – in pictures

Although artist Aïda Muluneh had an itinerant childhood in Europe and America, she was born in Addis Ababa and is an expert in African photography. When charity WaterAid asked her to participate in a campaign highlighting water poverty, it was the women of Afar, northern Ethiopia, that she shot for her series Water Life, now included in Ekow Eshun’s new book of African art and photography, In the Black Fantastic (Thames & Hudson), published to coincide with a show at London’s Hayward Gallery.

#aida muluneh #photographer #artist #art #water poverty #ethiopia #culture #addis ababa #african photography #wateraid #afar #water life #photo series

[she-is-ovarit]

Sign the petition: Stop forcing women and girls into sex for water!

Imagine being so desperate for water, you’d do anything to get it. Anything. Experts estimate that tens of thousands of women and girls around the world -- and maybe many more -- face this situation every single day. And corrupt water vendors in Kenya are taking advantage in the worst possible way, forcing them into sex for just a few litres. Children are being abused, women’s lives shattered. They have no choice. But here’s the really crazy thing: since there’s no law against this vile exploitation, it’s completely legal! We could change that. Kenyan women’s rights groups say the government is considering a law to make this abuse illegal – and that massive show of global pressure could make all the difference. They’re asking the Avaaz community to help – let’s lend our voices to some of the poorest, most vulnerable people on Earth, and demand an end to sex-for-water abuse. When our call is huge, we’ll deliver our voices to Kenya’s government. Photo Credit: Mariella Furrer Posted: 12 January 2024

#women's rights #children's rights #sex-based oppression #violence against women #kenya #exploitation #poverty #feminism #female liberation #activism #human rights #global feminism #signal boost #water is a human right

[nando161mando]

#brendan o'hara #palestine #free palestine #freepalastine🇵🇸 #free gaza #gaza strip #gaza genocide #gazaunderattack #gaza #genocide #no pride in genocide #starvation #eat the rich #eat the fucking rich #poverty #foods #food #water #ausgov #politas #auspol #tasgov #taspol #australia #fuck neoliberals #neoliberal capitalism #anthony albanese #albanese government #israel #israhell

[thefreakandthehair]

(this is not at all based on my personal experience this week with a water main break and myself having grown up as a trailer park kid and my fiance as... not)

----

It's 2006 when Eddie and Steve buy a small little 2-bedroom house and all is going well until there's a water main break in their neighborhood. Thankfully, it's fixed quickly but there's something called a "boil water precaution" until the water company tests for bacteria, etc. The recording instructs them not to drink, consume, or really use the water much at all until they receive a follow-up with an all-clear. Steve has no idea what the fuck is happening or what that even means; meanwhile, Eddie just sighs, shoves himself off the couch, and trudges into the kitchen.

"What-- what are you doing, Ed?" Steve stares, confused, in the doorway of the kitchen. Eddie's got three big pots out, filling them with water from the tap, and sets them all to high heat on the stovetop.

"Boiling water? You heard the same automated call I did, right?" Eddie stares back at Steve, equally as confused but for different reasons.

"But, why don't I just, I dunno, go to the store and get a couple packs of water bottles? Or a big jug?"

Eddie freezes on the spot-- in all the many, many times he'd seen his folks and then Wayne boil water for him to drink, he'd never considered that as an option because it was never proposed as an option. Money was tight, boiling water was free, and that was simple math.

"I-- well, yeah. Huh. I guess, yeah, I guess we could do that." Eddie chuckles to himself, turning the burners off and feeling a slight sting of embarrassment. It's been years now, and he knows that Steve doesn't look down on him for his upbringing but reminders like this of how impoverished his childhood was compared to Steve's will always hit that tender spot in his chest.

Steve clocks the lack of eye contact, the soft voice, the hunched shoulders when he starts emptying pots over the dirty dishes they'd meant to wash but would now have to wait. He crosses the threshold of their little peach kitchen ("we are painting this room immediately, Steve") and takes the pot from Eddie's hands, pouring the rest out himself.

"Y'know, it's actually pretty cool that you know how to do shit like that. Make something from nothing, fix problems."

Eddie rolls his eyes, just a touch. "You do too, I was with you through the whole almost-apocalypse thing, remember?"

Steve huffs out of his nose. Of course he remembers that. That's how they'd ended up here in the first place, but that's not his point. Once the last of the three pots is emptied, Steve pulls Eddie into him, hugging him so tight and swaying him side to side until Eddie finally laughs.

"Y'know I love you, right?"

Eddie pushes back just enough to look at Steve with his warm eyes, salt and peppery hair starting to crop up just at his temple, and arms still wound tight around his waist.

And yeah, there are a few things Eddie Munson knows for sure: boil water if the pressure was cut off for too long, a can of beans and white rice make a damn good meal, and Steve Harrington? Well, Steve Harrington loves him.

#steddie #steddie fanfic #steddie fanfiction #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #stranger things #st fic #total self-indulgence here tbh #my fiance was like 'why don't i just go buy water??' #and i texted lexi immediately saying 'that literally never occurred to me as an option that just healed my inner child' #so here's another installment of me projecting hard onto eddie #myfic #mentions of poverty! #myblurbs

[auradoniandreams]

something something fairies are often depicted as being extremely beautiful in folklore something something their beauty is probably enhanced by their magic something something jane has been described as faded or implied to be ugly her entire life but she's also never had the chance to use any of her fairy magic until d1 something something jane is actually really beautiful and the magic ban has real consequences for magical beings

#disney descendants #jane descendants #descendants theory #descendants headcanons #descendants #meta #worldbuilding #descendants jane #fandom:descendants #mine #this is a half baked theory that i just came up with #idk how much water it holds since mal is also fae and she's never been described as ugly b4 coming to auradon but also. #of course they're not gonna say that abt the main character #in-universe it could be bcs she grew up on the isle of the lost anyway and it's not like her peers looked more alive what with the #violence and poverty and stuff. so by comparison she was just average. also y'know dove cameron is gorgeous

[probablyasocialecologist]

It’s worth taking a step back to emphasise just how extraordinary the lack of access to water is. There is not a shortage of water. Sure, regionally speaking, there are shortages, but not at a global level. It also doesn’t take a genius to get access to water or move it from A to B. The UN estimates it costs $60 to $70 per year per person to get the infrastructure in place for potable water and sanitation to everyone. A sum that pales in comparison with that spent bailing out the banks in 2008, for example. So it’s in that context that we should look at these new technologies. Desalination of water has been around for a long time. You boil salty water, it’s that simple. However, what has happened over the past 20 or 30 years or so, is desalination is increasingly seen as an environmentally friendly, safe and cheap way to get almost an abundant supply of water. Sea water is in great abundance, it is not owned by anyone for the time being, you can suck up as much as you want of it and not pay for it. Of course, desalination at scale is not ecologically friendly. Desalination takes a gargantuan amount of energy. It’s true that the costs per unit for energy production have gone down, but it’s still very energy intensive. It also takes significant infrastructure to suck the water from the sea, which has an adverse impact on marine wildlife and ecologies, as well as producing highly saline and toxic leftover waste. There’s no way to recycle this so it often ends up back in the sea or stored on land, in barrels somewhere. These technologies are also often used to defuse or, more accurately, sidestep political disputes. Take Spain, for example. Water access and distribution is difficult in the south of Spain, while people from Catalonia or Aragon generally speaking don’t want to share their groundwater with those from other regions. Desalination is an easy answer. Let’s get to the sea, extract free water, there’s no contestation. This all falls under what I’ve called a ‘productionist logic’, we need to get more of the stuff to carry on doing what we are already doing. This perpetuates a logic of reproduction that does not consider the structures of demand: who’s using it, under what conditions etc… It helps us escape considering the contradictions of current demands.

#water #commons #desalination #poverty #inequality

[angryrdpanda]

Louisiana’s Governor-Elect Wants To Withhold Funds For New Orleans’ Decaying Water Infrastructure Until Women Who Seek Abortions Are Prosecuted | Essence

Forcing birth in a city with compromised drinking water...............

#New Orleans #forced birth #abortion #reproductive rights #reproductive health #health #water #water is life #crime #environmental racism #poverty #classism #racism #Louisiana #Jeff Landry #politics

[bigskydreaming]

Just got a rundown of the Batcat War issue or opening salvo or whatever and I fucking object to this Dick Grayson characterization so fucking much who do I have to pay to break the fourth wall in the opposite direction and kidnap him to rescue him from this terrible storyline oh god Taylor's gonna write tie-in issues to this mess, isn't he. ISN'T HE.

#fahklfhlkahflkahflkafhlkfahlk #i hate this so much #Selina is like objectively factually right here #but god forbid the circus kid be allowed to be the one to point out that there absolutely #literally IS a difference between desperate poverty-driven criminals targeting #a local bodega store owner vs a one percenter #THESE THINGS ARE NOT AT ALL EQUIVALENT #DICK GRAYSON MY BELOVED YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE #like Dick's parents LITERALLY died because of an extortion scheme #he understands the difference between traditional organized crime #and how it impacts the lower classes #and what Selina's talking about here #what if Dick's characterization got to be driven by his own backstory instead of just writers #being like this is Bruce Stan Number One #he doesnt have his own thoughts or experiences #just watered down versions of Bruce's #WHAT IF

[berniesrevolution]

PEOPLE’S POLICY PROJECT

by Kendall Dix

The Flint, Michigan, water crisis has dramatically illustrated poor people’s lack of access to clean drinking water in the United States. But beyond lead contamination, there are more ways this country denies people that basic human right. The inability to pay water bills has become a significant problem for poor people.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and accom­pany­ing economic downturn, an estimated 1 out of every 20 households, or about 15 million people, had their water turned off at some point during the year because of non­payment.1 In New Orleans, more than 75 percent of low-income residents have water bills that industry analysts say are unaffordable.2 During the pandemic, an es­timated 9,052 people died as a result of water shut-offs.3

Like all issues related to poverty, the problem of water affordability disproportionately harms Black people, making this a racial justice issue.4 The amount of household income spent on water is more than twice as high in majority Black cities as majority white cities.5

Most water for bathing, cooking, and drinking in the United States is provided by utilities, about 80 percent of which are publicly owned.6 Water utilities are funded by a combination of government money, user fees, municipal bonds, and private loans.7 Though household fees are often thought to discourage overuse, data show that demand for water is relatively fixed, and raising prices produces little reduction in usage.8 Furthermore, residential water use accounts for just 8.2 percent of overall water usage in the United States.9

The most effective and equitable solution to the affordability problem is to eliminate residential fees and simply fund water utilities entirely with progressive taxation. If governments are interested in reducing overall water consumption, there are a variety of other options such as physical infrastructure that limits the amount of water that flows through fixtures, water recycling, or limiting the largest users of water, which are farms and industrial facilities.

Two related, but distinct, problems characterize the term “water affordability”:

Poverty. 

Many people in the United States have low amounts of income and no or negative wealth. This makes it difficult for them to afford their household expenses, including rent, food, and water utility bills.10 In addition to their inability to pay, poor people who have bad credit scores are often seen as risks to utilities, which force them to pay high deposits or sometimes even deny them water service altogether.11

(“Older Housing In The Black Community On Chicago's West Side.” U.S. National Archives / EPA.  “Old Cars Serve as Water-Break on Navajo Reservation.” U.S. National Archives / EPA.)

Public Disinvestment. 

Despite overall water consumption decreasing,12 people’s water bills are getting more expensive, in part because of decades of federal dis­invest­ment from public infra­structure. Federal spending on water has dropped steadily since the 1980s.13 Utilities’ costs have risen, in part because of climate change,14 and those costs are passed on to the public through increasing rates.15 Private utilities, which serve about 20 percent of the population, exist to make a profit and have higher water rates than public utilities.16 As federal spending on water has fallen, private water utilities have been on the rise. From 2010 through 2020, just 12 large, for-profit water companies acquired 353 water utilities at a total cost of about $5.8 billion.17

Water rates function as consumption taxes that fund infrastructure projects, much like gasoline taxes help fund highway maintenance and construction.18 In theory, these taxes can be used to influence consumer behavior to decrease usage. In practice, households largely cannot and do not respond to increased water rates by reducing consumption.19 Replacing water bills with more progressive sources of funding would increase access and improve the income distribution without causing overuse.

Eliminating water bills not only ensures universal access for those with housing, it also lowers utilities’ costs by reducing the need for billing and collections staff. Fees and rates alone cannot maintain our water system; only about 17 percent of utilities say they can maintain existing service without additional funding sources.20

(“Public Playground on the Charles River, near Soldiers Field Road.” U.S. National Archives / EPA.)

Water utility costs can be broken down into two broad categories:

At present, capital expenses are often covered by loans taken out by utilities and repaid by the fees collected from water users. The main federal funding mechanism for drinking water is the State Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF), which provides low-interest loans to utilities. The SRLF provides useful financing for utilities across the country, but many smaller utilities struggle to pay those loans, and some states struggle to provide the required matching funds.

Water infrastructure did not always depend so heavily on loans. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the federal government provided significant grant money to water utilities. There are still a number of federal grant programs, including Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN), Public Water System Supervision (PWSS), Tribal Public Water System Supervision, and Training and Technical Assistance for Small Systems.21

Congress should revive this approach and replace water infrastructure loans with grants. This would ensure that all utilities can afford to build out and maintain necessary infrastructure as well as eliminate the water rates that are used to directly or indirectly finance capital expenses.

Water utilities’ day-to-day expenses are currently distributed down to users through water bills. Replacing these charges with more progressive taxes would allow for the total elimination of residential water bills and result in a more equal distribution of income and consumption. Any level of government could do this. Municipalities could use property taxes to eliminate user charges, states could use state income or sales taxes, and the federal government could use the federal income tax. But if equality is the goal, it is worth noting that the federal tax system is currently much more progressive than state tax systems.22

This is not a new idea. Ireland does not charge residents for water and an effort to introduce charges in 2014 led to such immense backlash that the government scrapped them two years later.23 Some US cities have already begun experimenting with progressive water billing. For example, Philadelphia offers income-based water rates for those whose income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty line.24 Though this is good because it caps the amount any one household pays for its water bill, only households that apply are enrolled in the program. There are poor households that would qualify but are not receiving the benefit because they haven’t filled out the paperwork. Eliminating rates and fees altogether would be more effective.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #peoples policy project #water #economic inequality #poverty #infrastructure #progressive #progressive movement #social democracy #democratic socialism #socialism #capitalism #economics #long post #long reads

[sheltiechicago]

The Artist Shining A Light On Water Poverty In Ethiopia

Born in Ethiopia in 1974, Aïda Muluneh left the country at a young age and spent an itinerant childhood between Yemen and England.

#aida muluneh #photographer #artist #art #water poverty #ethiopia #photograph

[flyingwide]

As I was making biscuits and gravy this morning for Mother's Day breakfast, I was reminded of a moment of banter where they're talking about the crops in Cipal. Cuff says, "A sort of grain perhaps? Easy to cultivate and highly versatile." There's lots of grains out there that can be milled into flour. Flour can then be used in all sorts of ways that involve very few ingredients. Sometimes even just water and some sort of fat such as butter or oil or drippings!

Anyway, I think it would be very funny if Frey discovered they had biscuits and gravy in Athia and lost her mind a little.

#it really did begin its life as a poverty food #drop biscuits and thick gravy is good and cheap and high in calories and can feed a lot of people #you literally just need flour and oil and water

[caeliflammae]

our dryer broke in December and we had to either wash and hang dry our clothes (annoying in Florida) or just go to the Laundromat and do all of our laundry which would routinely cost upwards of $40 bucks bc clothes and linens for a family of 3 are not insubstantial. we finally got a new dryer last week, and the next day our washer broke. we don't need to replace it but we need a plumber to come and deal with it bc my dad was unable to reach whatever clog is in the drainage pipe with the snake we have. so this has lead to a situation of having to hand wash all of our clothes in the tub and then put them in the dryer. i need to get a damn washboard. truly will never underestimate the amount of time and effort that is saved by our modern appliances and conveniences.

#poverty #laundry #i feel like an 1800s washerwomen #my back hurts #my hands hurt #im probably wasting so much water #but it's so much cheaper than just going to the laundromat to wash stuff and then lugging home bags of wet laundry #my clothes are probably grateful for the special treatment though

[arionawrites]

genuinely so hard to fight that inner resentment towards people who don’t financially struggle. i mean billionares fucking suck i will openly hate the rich, but even just people who have never had to worry about having a car or paying bills or putting food in the fridge, you know? it’s not that those people upset me because everyone should be able to live like that, i don’t want those people to live harder lives, but i still feel so resentful sometimes because like, what the fuck did i do wrong to not have that? why does my family have to live years in campers because rent is too high? why do i have to sit here not knowing if i’m gonna be able to get to work on monday because my car broke down thursday and even the best case scenario will probably cost too much for me to afford?

like. i don’t want people to financially struggle. i want to not financially struggle, too. and i want people to understand that there is an aspect of their life that they will likely never struggle with to the degree in which my family and i have struggled.

#when the local shitty motel is cheaper than paying water and electricity so ur family goes to stay there for a night to take showers #when u and ur dad go to the grocery store as soon as they open on the day we got foodstamps #so that we can get groceries and he can drop me off at home to put them away #while he goes to work in order for him to not be late #idk poverty is so heavy it’s a fucking shadow always there and its so hard to get out of the shadow #anyways i just sent an application in for a car thats less than $5k but i can only do a $250 downpayment at most #so probably wont happen but my options are low and time is ticking lmao #happy say two of being 24 me #aris adventures at 24

[hilsoncrater]

love finding out that in 2021 the USA was the only country in the UN to vote no on if food should be considered a human right :) a country where 34,000,000 people go hungry despite it being an international top exporter of food :) a country where roughly 183,000 people die a year from poverty :) Greatest Country In The World, truly

#at this point there is no point in salvaging america #'we can reform! vote!' motherfucker we have a time bomb on our hands with climate change #our time on earth is limited & the conditions americans live under are CRUEL #the system is not designed for fast change preciesly because change is a threat to the status quo the system protects #look me in the eyes and tell me people have the luxury to wait years/decades for change while the earth heats up & food/water become scarce #if 34 MILLION people are experiencing hunger already how do you think that number will be impacted when crops die #because it sure as shit will not go down. they'll raise the price of food — we already see it in the supermarket #more people will go hungry and die of poverty in the time it takes for change to occur

[memser]

im doing a food budget for lunch at uni and its cheaper for me to get subway and soup packets and split those up 4x than buy a crous meal (my campus never has the 1 euro meal and if they do, it sucks and i get nauseous)

#seriously they have the posters for student poverty and 1 euro meals but when you get to pay the lady gives you a dirty look and nitpicks #over what you have THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED #typically its like. sandwich with one topping #or a daily hot meal But Only This One Specific Kind And If Its Sold Out Go Fuck Yourself #with a water bottle and applesauce or yogurt #IF ANY OF THESE ARE SOLD OUT. THE ENTIRE MEAL IS FORFEIT. and you have to pay 4 #for instance one day they were sold out of applesauce and plain yogurt so i grabbed a fruit jelly cup thing that was the same price #and the lady screamed at me asking what i thought i was trying to do #suuuper normal #anyways if the cantine is making me want to die ill just avoid it now. i can deal with an extra container in my bag #he speaks

[yessoupy]

In 2016, I taught Qasem how to fold a paper crane. His family is in Gaza (he is safe in Germany). His father is collecting funds that Qasem sends him each month to purchase food for those living in tents and on the street. Qasem's English is not the best, so the description as I post this isn't the best, either, but I will vouch for him.

All of these Palestinian students of mine I met while teaching about leadership and communication in Ireland. At the conference, their projects were ALWAYS about education and how to ensure Palestinian kids could get the best education possible. When they left, they had friends from America and Ireland. My goal was to, yes, foster a sense of leadership in them, but more importantly to have them leave with these friends and new connections, and to encourage them to keep in touch. I always offered myself as someone who would be happy to write a letter of reference, help them proofread an essay, give advice about education, etc.

Now, they reach out to me to help them raise money to save their people. I post here and every other platform and WISH these posts got the kind of attention that my 3am post about Amber Glenn got, or that stupid post that went viral. Every single fundraiser I post is one that I myself have donated to. I've spoken to the person who started the fundraiser, or their family member.

I am BEGGING you to help my students, their families, and their friends. If you can't donate, please just SHARE the link. Please.

Heba needs help getting her handicapped family member out of Gaza

Joslin needs help getting her family out of Gaza

Taleed is seeking help to get her family's business rebuilt, including paying employees while this war is happening

I'll end this plea with some gallows humor. Mohammed has been relatively lucky throughout this war and has had WhatsApp access nearly continuously. I've checked in with him at least once a week since October. This is our most recent 'check-in' exchange:

#teacher things #education #leadership #fundraising #un sustainable development goals #no poverty #quality education #zero hunger #clean water #gender equality #sustainable cities #anyway