WAC Participants

“The [WAC is an]..experience that will follow me for the rest of my life.” - WAC Student, 2010

Lesson Plans

Possible Topics

  • Sanitation: Compare water sanitation policies across countries
  • Waterborne diseases – cholera, diarrhea, etc.
  • Water & agriculture, food production and nutrition
  • Millennium Development Goals – health and sanitation
  • Water sanitation policies

Organizations & Online Resources

Articles & Current Events

Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering – New York Times

Impacts of water pollution in the US on public health.

Talking Dirty: The Politics of Clean Water and Sanitation– New England Journal of Medicine

The lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation represents a silent crisis affecting more than a third of the world's population. A look at the politics at work in efforts to address this crisis.

Thirsty Giant– New York Times

In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge. A crisis decades in the making has reduced middle-class people in New Delhi to foraging for water.

Dengue Epidemic Hits South American Urban Centers– Circle of Blue Water News

With the rainy season still to come, South America is already facing one of the largest dengue fever epidemics on record.

Water Shortages Trigger Domestic Violence in Uganda– Circle of Blue Water News

In many Ugandan families, water users are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Electric fences to stop invasion of Kenya nature parks– UK Guardian

Armed guards doubled to protect wildlife reserves from farmers desperate for food and water as climate change accelerates

Australian Aid Flows to Zimbabwe for Water, Sanitation and Health – Circle of Blue Water News

Beleaguered Zimbabweans can look forward to at least $10 million from Australia - a country with a water crisis of its own.

Haiti: The Struggle for Water- PBS

The Water System in Haiti

In Pictures: Darfur’s Water Woes - BBC

Videos

World Water Day 2008: Hurry Up!

Sanitation and Hygiene Video from UN TV on sanitation and toilets – effects that no toilets and poor sewage systems can have on health (2:26 minutes)

Cholera Plagues Afghanistan

Al Jazeera news item on cholera outbreak in Afghanistan. As if living in a country at war was not bad enough, the people of Afghanistan are battling a new outbreak of cholera. At least 20 people have been killed so far - most of them women and children. Health workers blame poor sanitation and a lack of clean water.

Wastewater Woes: Sewage Spills in SF Bay Area

What happens when you flush the toilet? For most of us, what's out of sight is out of mind. But large numbers of sewage spills into San Francisco Bay are forcing cities, water agencies and the public to take a closer look at wastewater and its impacts on the health of the bay. QUEST investigates the causes of the spills and what's being done to prevent them.

Diary of Jay-Z in Africa: Water for Life

Jay takes a journey of a lifetime, discovering how lack of clean water leads to horrific conditions -- and finding hope along the way. (about 13 minutes)

South Africa: The Play Pump

In rural villages across South Africa, some 5 million people don't have access to clean drinking water.

Fast Fashion from UK to Uganda and Recycled Clothes on Uganda Dumps

Two videos about recycled clothing from the UK gets sent to Africa and can end up in garbage dumps, negatively affecting the area’s soil and water quality and people’s health

Egypt Women Gather Water - Where is it clean?

Women collecting water in Egypt around the Nile delta. Many people die each year due to water borne illness. Also, people are facing drought in the region. There is shortage of water and people have to fight for water. The government of Egypt has been reluctant to solve the water problem.