Circumspecte

Scale of Preference: Water Vs. Oil? The idea of economics being a social science is no novelty and even though the notion dates back as far as the era of Adam Smith and the other fathers of economics, it still holds true today. It would seem that every being, society or entity is forever in the pursuit of that elusive – or to put it in economic terms, scarce – something. For some select countries like the United States, that elusive or increasingly scarce thing is oil. For most of the world however, and particularly the impoverished world, that commodity is oil's arch-rival, water . Nothing lasts forever and that applies especially to natural resources that tend to be used up with no thought of their replenishment. The world literally goes crazy because of this commodity oil. All things being equal (ceteris paribus), when global oil prices drop, everyone - with the possible exception of suppliers - rejoices. When the prices rise - as they seem to do more frequently given their in...

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." - Anais Nin At different points of the earth, there once lived two oysters. Both were oysters, true. Yet one hailed from a small, pond in the middle of a grand forest, while the other rode the waves of the Atlantic. Conspicuously the same, inherently different, it so happened that the currents decided to let chance take course. -- A fisherman, well known for his skill on the high, reined in his net on a particularly promising day. However, try as he might, he caught naught but a single oyster. 'What a curious thing', he thought to himself 'The light is right, the winds on course, the shrimp is particularly fresh, yet the fish resist' Out went the nets again. And a second. And a third. But each time, only the oyster remained embedded in the criss-cross of coiled twines. 'Ver...

It's amazing the kinds of things you find on the net. Especially when you're not looking. Devex recently published an interview I did with the president & CEO of the Global Fund for Women, Kavita Ramdas - a phenomenal woman (and Mount Holyoke alum) by the way - and as I was doing some quick fact checking on their site, I stumbled upon this: the Global Women's Water Initiative . Global Women's Water Initiative GWWI is a program that is sponsored by three international organizations dedicated to the issue of water access and other development concerns - A Single Drop , Crabgrass and Women's Earth Alliance . As most of you probably know, water access is one of my key development concerns , so I was so excited to find that, not only does GWWI provide information and advocacy tools to African women on the issue of water access, they actually train them to test water and construct things like pipelines, bore holes etc. Amazing! Anyway, I just had to share th...

NB: This post is part of a GhanaBlogging event to commemorate World Water Day (March 22)  -- The word floating around in Ghanaian circles these days is oil. Since 'the great find' the hopes of numerous Ghanaians have been buoyed and politicians are having quite the field day using the 'expected oil revenues' as bargaining chips for one thing or the other. I don't share in that optimism, hence my delay in writing about Ghana's "oil miracle". Instead, I'm focused on another precious resource, one that has unfortunately become more of a commodity than a right. Water. Science tells us that water and oil don't mesh together. They just don't. But if what the analysts are saying is correct, the two might have more in common than we think. At the rate things are going, water is becoming increasingly scarce. So much to the point where it's expected that water could be the next oil : a precious element in the hands of few. Unless Ghana realign...

[Haven't read part 1? Do so  here ] "This is all your fault!"someone hissed.  Jostled from her reverie, Amsatou looked up in confusion. She glanced at her young cousin to her left, who stared blankly back at her. Realizing that it was her other cousin who had spoken, Amsatou sighed deeply and looked to her right.  Leila's face had an accusatory air to it, and she was wearing her usual black top with the words "I Love N.Y." proudly displayed in red. Leila was a good five years older than Amsatou, but at 23, her smooth face and soft voice made her look as though she had just stopped suckling at her mother's breast. "What are you talking about?" Amsatou replied, feigning ignorance.  She hooked her arm securely around her bucket's handle and quickened her already fast pace. Auntie Adiza was a good distance ahead of the girls, and was still muttering incoherently to herself.  Amsatou glanced down at her aunt's small feet; ordinarily choco...

[Something I've been working on. I intended to use it for something else, but I feel like I'd rather share it with you guys! Everything in it's own time. Dedicated to YOWLI 08ers! Thoughts appreciated. Enjoy!!] -- Amsatou detested it. Not the weight of the aluminum bucket on her head after it was filled, or the fact that they’d been walking for hours in search of  water. No. Those she could handle. Those were part of life.  What she could not tolerate was the feeling of guilt that nibbled at her conscience every time they reached a station, only to be told there was no water available for sale that day. And here it was playing itself out again.  Amsatou loosened her orange and blue tie-dye cloth from her waist, grabbed a corner of it, and raised it to her sweaty, round face. “Oh, uncle. Even this small bucket? Won’t you give us water for this small one? Me pa wo kyew.” Amsatou looked up towards the partly blue, party grey metal gate with peeling oi...