Słuchaj i ucz się – S-11. Sun Cleaned Water

Voice 1

Hello. I'm Marina Santee.

Voice 2

And I'm Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

The sun beats down. It is a hot dry day. A man is working in a field. It is tiring work - the ground is hard and difficult to dig. He stops for a short time. His body is suffering. He has lost a lot of water through his skin. Now he is dehydrated. He needs a drink. He stands under a nearby tree. He finds his water bottle and lifts it to his mouth. He takes long deep swallows.

Voice 2

The water tastes good. There is nothing like a cool drink of water on a hot day. But for many people that drink may cost them their lives. Over one billion [1,000,000,000] people in the world live without a clean water supply. Over two million people die each year from health problems related to drinking dirty water. Experts estimate that six thousand children die each day from conditions caused by dirty water.

Voice 1

Experts at the United Nations believe that all people should have clean drinking water. It says that education about water and health is important. It could reduce the amount of diseases that people get from bad water. March the 22nd 2005 was an important day. The United nations launched its 'New Decade for Action - Water for Life' programme. During the next ten years the UN wants to teach the world about the value of clean water. UN experts want to encourage new projects and ideas. They want to make clean water a reality for everyone in the world. One important project is taking place in Ndolela village in Tanzania. It is important because it could be repeated in many other places. Such projects could be the way forward for people needing to clean water for little cost.

Voice 2

Aid group 'Plan International' started the project. Plan International helps communities across the world. The group wants to create a better, healthier living environment for everyone. They do this using local skills and labour. Clean drinking water is extremely important for healthy living. But many poor communities do not have the money to pay for costly clean water systems. However the project in Ndolela village does not cost a lot of money. It uses the sun to clean the water!

Voice 1

Rose Longwa is a mother with five children. Rose has seen her children suffer from severe sickness many times. Some village children have even died from conditions related to drinking dirty water. Ndolela village is luckier than some. A water collection point pumps piped water into the village. It has to come a long way. When the water arrives it is not clean enough to drink. And anyway, the water often fails to arrive. The pipe may get blocked with leaves or other matter. Sometimes the pipe gets a leak. From time to time the water collection point dries up. Then the women in the village have to get water from a spring. The spring water is not clean either. It contains bacteria and small single cell creatures such as protozoa. The protozoa and bacteria can cause severe stomach infections.

Voice 2

In the past the women have boiled the water. Heating the water to a high temperature kills the bacteria and protozoa. The water is then safe to drink. But it takes a lot of fuel to boil enough water for a whole family. Rose spent most of her day collecting enough wood to boil the water. But now Rose uses solar purification. She uses the sun to clean the water. Rose says,

Voice 3

'It is easy to do. I fill clear plastic bottles with water. Then I place the bottles on the top of my black-painted house - on the roof. The water bottles stay there in the hot sun for a whole day'.

Voice 1

The sun heats the water. The roof at the top of the house is painted black. This helps to speed up the heating process. The colour black takes in the heat from the sun. The ultraviolet rays and the heat from the sun act together on the water. The bacteria and protozoa in the water are destroyed within eight hours. No fuel has burned. But the water is safe to drink. Pastor Moses Kwanga from the local church supports the project. He says,

Voice 4

'The technology is very easy. But until now people did not know about it. We can use old pieces of black roofing to put the bottles on. The bottles are also easy to find. We can use them again and again. It does not cost a lot of money. Everyone can have clean drinking water with this system'.

Voice 2

The number of people in Tanzania using the sun to clean water is very limited. Only a few villages, like Ndolela, use the system. Daudi Makamba is an expert from the aid agency 'Plan International'. He says he finds it difficult to persuade people to use the new technology. Daudi knows that the system works. It saves lives. But people often find change difficult to accept. People find new ideas and news ways of doing things strange. Some communities have expressed another concern. They say that the system requires a great deal of trust. The bottles have to sit out in the open for many hours. People worry that their enemies may put chemicals into the bottles.

Voice 1

Rose Longwa knows about these difficulties. But she claims that it is possible for people to overcome such problems. Rose knows that the water system developed in Ndolela works. Since using the system fewer people than ever before suffer from sickness. Rose encourages other villages to consider trying this system. Rose says that people often reject a good idea because they are afraid. They are afraid of things they do not understand. But education, knowledge, and understanding can help remove and ease those fears.

Voice 2

The villagers of Ndolela have worked together on this water project. They have become stronger as a community. New relationships between different families have formed. Helping each other and co-operating with each other builds trust. And, with trust, people have hope.

Voice 1

The writer and producer of today's programme was Elizabeth Lickiss. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our wordbook on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called 'Sun Cleaned Water'.

Voice 2

We love to hear comments and questions from our listeners. You can reach us by e-mail. Our address is radio @ english . net. Thank you for joining us in today's Spotlight programme. Goodbye.