I don’t normally follow the legislative dance on Capitol Hill, but from the beginning I was riveted by Obama’s stimulus bill. Oh, not the ins and outs of economic recovery, mind you. Econ 101 is the only class I’ve ever failed, and my boyfriend was even the teaching assistant.
Nope, it was the commitment to infrastructure. The minute I heard the phrase “infrastructure reinvestment” I perked right up. Here’s something that even my closest friends probably don’t know about me: I’m a huge fan of infrastructure. Huge! Why? Because if you really want to create a better world, infrastructure is where you start.
Infrastructure’s not sexy. It’s not cuddly. No one’s ever going to hold a telethon for it. But infrastructure’s the key to everything else you may hope to accomplish in making the impoverished parts of the world better for those who live there. First you provide clean water and sanitation. Then you build roads, railways and air strips to provide access for personnel and supplies. Then you set up electricity and communications.
But it all starts with clean water. Water to drink, water to wash away sewage and disease, water to live.
WaterStories is a photo documentary project giving a voice and a face to the need for clean water in Third World countries. From July 2009 through 2011, Vancouver-based photographer Cate Cameron and Calgary-based writer Melanie Jones will travel to Africa, India and Haiti. A photo and story exhibition documenting the first phase of the project will launch in June 2010 in several cities across Canada, followed by the second phase in 2011. Like most documentaries,
WaterStories is partially funded by grants, while depending on the kindness of strangers to make up the difference.
Like many people, I suffer from compassion fatigue—every financial appeal that ruthlessly bludgeons my emotions immediately induces an incapacitating lethargy. (It’s a lot like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, except that Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip usually cures it.) A compassionate person by nature, I’ve reached the point where I’m now unmoved by pictures of impoverished children with sad eyes (Save the Children), adorable polar bear cubs clinging to melting glaciers (World Wildlife Fund), and desolate-looking dogs and cats serenaded by Sarah McLaughlin (ASPCA). I contribute money to all of these organizations, and support them in other ways as well, but the blatant emotional manipulation is a complete turn-off.
WaterStories is a different kind of project, documenting stories of life, hope and celebration. As writer Melanie Jones explains, “We’re telling the story of the people who now have clean water. In the process, we’ll meet people who are still waiting for water, and we'll tell their story too. But we're here to tell the good news story, the transformative effect of clean water.”
People used to criticize Jackie Onassis for supporting historic preservation and the arts rather than causes they deemed worthier, such as homelessness and AIDS. But I always thought those criticisms missed the point. I believe that we each have our own areas of interest, the causes that call us to commit our time, energy and money. And when we’re each supporting the causes to which we’re drawn, then everything eventually gets done.
Clean water, documentaries and the global impact of infrastructure may not be your thing. But if any of these pique your curiosity, you can follow the progress of the WaterStories project here. You can even make a contribution if you want.
As for me, WaterStories is giving me a new take on W.C. Fields’s famous quote, “I drink therefore I am.”
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Photo Credit: "playing with water 10" by wester via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.
Twittering vixenish things @WriterVixen
