Water use in Afghanistan

Hi There,

I wanted to share that I was a contributor to the Portland Water Bureau’s blog to discuss water issues in Afghanistan. I thought my readers would be interested in this as well. Enjoy!

Greetings from Afghanistan! As a native Oregonian, I have spent the majority of my adult life living abroad. After attending Lewis & Clark College I joined the Peace Corps, and worked to provide water sanitation and health education in Ghana. I am now based in Kabul, and working on the Higher Education Project to coordinate trainings throughout Asia, and am currently in Vietnam with a group of Afghans for the month.

Access to clean water continues to be a critical issue no matter where my travels take me. I’ve had several conversations with Afghans about water, and one of the translators mentioned that there was recently a feature article about water use in the newspaper. He said that in some places the water availability is so bad that they are walking five kilometers with jugs of water. They most often carry them on either side of them, balanced by a stick across their shoulders. In some cases, like the picture of the little boys, they will use a donkey to help in the carrying.

Water use within Kabul also means carrying water some distance, often up very steep hills. Water must be carried up to the houses at the top of mountains. Back in the sixties there were only a few houses on the hillsides, but with the spread of Kabul they have now become a signature of the city.

If you are interested in learning more about my work and travels, feel free to check out my blog for family and friends called “Where in the World is Miel?” Please know that you are very lucky to have the best drinking water in the world…thanks to the Portland Water Bureau!

Miel

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