Ebola

I dont think it is quite as simple as blaming the big bad west for everything that happens in Africa. To my eye, and I am no expert, with few exceptions, African countries are run by despots who are able to find the money to fund their own disgustingly affluent lifestyles, buy arms etc., but cant find the money to run stand pipes of clean water into villages. There was an excellent report in The Economist a couple of years back, one of the major charities had to pay what amounted to a backhander of £200,000 to a local politician to enable them to run the water pipe from the bore hole that we, the big bad west, had paid for through our charity donations. I for one, am tired of being made to feel guilty about this disgraceful situation, if a country can arm people, they can feed and water them properly too.

That is a very good point, WB. We can contribute through WaterAid to help bring water to African villages that may not otherwise have clean water, whilst perhaps in the same country a leader and his wife can afford to live in palaces and lead the affluent lifestyle of billionaires.

rosequartz i think the problem the Australians have (not enough water to lead an affluent lifestyle with power showers and green lawns with sprinkler systems) is a tad different to the African problem - a lack of piped water so that little girls and old women have to spend many hours a day carrying water for miles. And no safe water - untreated water and a lack of sanitation increases the chances of human parasites entering watercourses etc
Meanwhile many Australians complain that they cannot spray high quality treated drinking water on their gardens every day.
It costs a lot of money to make drinking water safe in this country - look at your water bill and multiply by the number of households. And the basic investment has all been done.I think privatisation of water was a success in this country as it forced a massive upgrade of the out of date system - but now western companies are trying to impose it on people who have very low incomes and I think a public investment model would be more appropriate.
I was amused by the reference to smelly poms. I have mentioned this on other threads.

Just read in today's Times that a man 'found dead in Ireland was suspected to have been infected with the Ebola virus' (quote from Irish health authority. He'd recently returned from Sierra Leone.

Just heard at lunch time that the man did not have Ebola

It might have been better for the media not to report anything until they knew for certain instead of worrying people.

JessM - I do understand the difference between the problems of obtaining clean fresh water in Africa and the problems of drought in Australia ( - not completely thick).

I did say that if Australia, with all its resources and know-how have not yet solved their water problems - and I do not mean people pouring treated water on to their manicured lawns, I mean cattle dying from drought and lack of water, dire water shortages in cities during periods of drought because some areas have not yet built sufficient reservoirs to cope, then what hope have poor African villages of receiving clean water when so much money is wasted by despotic leaders?
Most Australians farms are not on a piped, treated, water system and rely on rainwater for household use ie cooking and drinking, showering (until it runs out) and water direct from the reservoir to irrigate their farms and gardens, flush toilets, do the laundry etc and showering.

Sorry, I misunderstood the point you were making obviously.
It's hard not to generalise isn't it - both big continents with many climate zones.

Perhaps I didn't put it across very well.

Yes, but I suppose another difference is that Africa consists of so many different countries, whereas Australia is one country albeit with different State governments.

And yet Australia still manages, with their lack of rainfall, to have, on average, 'Major agriculture export products of AU$38,268,192' per year. Wouldn't that suggest that they are managing it?

Africa does have water - it's just that no-one is drilling for it. Therefore, is Africa's continuing drought problems more man-made now than a natural phenomena?

Sierra Leone has now made it a crime to harbour someone with ebola, punishable by a two year prison sentence. Somehow, I think the sentence will possibly be worse than that!

Doesn't sound as if they are getting a grip.

Practical Action, Holly.They are building dams and manmade reservoirs in Darfur, one of the most drought prone areas of Sudan.
They have been working in Africa for 40 years, and were set up by the Schumacher Institute.
www.practicalaction.org

I suppose, Holly, as I posted above, that 'Africa' is not just one country; there are 47 countries on the mainland, all with their separate governments and often with fighting within those territories.
It would need a cohesive effort to bring clean water and sanitation to every part of the continent and, even with all the aid that is poured in, that is probably not going to happen, unfortunately, in the foreseeable future.

Solar-powered water pumps as well.
practicalaction.org/pumping-water-by-solar-power

Things are happening then, dj, which is more than I can say for this pc which is so slow that I can't access the links at the moment (links are OK I think, it is just my pc)

I had that problem for the last couple of days. I also got a message which said my Windows 7 was not a proper one!
I did a complete clean with my AVG instead of the usual quick ones, and it seems to be okay now, touch wood.
I have checked the links and they are okay for me. In fact I always try the links after putting them on and alter them if they do not work.

I probably need to do that and delete all these cookies that seem to be necessary part of pc life these days.
I can access the links but it is soooo slooow.
Cheers!

Cookies are fattening!

Here is a link to a project with which we are involved, with Rotary. I heard a passionate speaker on this last year.

www.excellentdevelopment.com/what-we-do/pioneering-sand-dams

2 months ago I started a thread with the question Ebola- should we be worried? Some pooh-poohed my worries, dismissing the reports as " mediahype" and put their faith in hand washing and alcohol hand-rub.
Well I take no pleasure in being a Cassandra or " prophet of doom" but ask again "Should we be worried?" And I think the answer is a resounding "Yes". If it can be contracted outside West Africa and under hospital conditions it is surely a wake-up call. Over 3,000 victims have died in West Africa , cases have now been recorded recorded in the USA and now also in Spain only a short flught away. At present the only facility for treating Ebola patients is a 2 bed unit in the Royal Free in London. This is not just Africa's problem is it?

You're right, Soutra. I have always thought we shouldn't bury our heads in the sand. It's very worrying.

There is no point in talking like this. How do you think this can help? If there was really something ordinary people could do then, yes, talk about it. But don't just stir up fear.

No one is burying their heads in the sand. No one that matters.

But people will be talking about it, jingle. It's what people do whether or not they can do anything about it.

Spreading panic.