Water Crisis in Dominican Republic

DaSh. K. Rouse The Dominican Republic is one of the most toured countries in the world with these beautiful beaches, delicious cuisine and friendly people, how can one not want to visit? But what about the DR's water crisis? Not many people know about this. 3 of 10 people worldwide don't have access to clean water and 2 out of 5 people don't have access to basic sanitations. Now, those numbers are huge. Mariam Sherrif is from the DR and is here to discuss her country's water crisis. It's good to have you here, Mariam. Now, the DR experience is a lot of inclement weather, hurricane storms, tropical storms. These have long term effects on the country sewage system and piping, thus contaminating the water. Due to this, the people of the country simply cannot consume the water. If the water is consumed, it raises possibilities for waterborne illnesses. Studies show that poorer communities in the country are at a high risk for waterborne illnesses as they are more likely to use the island's water for drinking. Over the years, many organizations have been lending a helping hand, but the water crisis is far from over. Communities near the Haitian border are hit hard, especially by this crisis. Socio economic status plays a role in this. Depending on one's income, occupation, and even geographical location, some people may be more accessible to clean water than others. And if you're on the lower side economically or living in a poorer location, it just makes it very difficult to access clean water. Furthermore, what makes the wealthier part of the island have more access to clean water?

Mariam Sherrif It definitely has to do with geographical location. So how I mentioned earlier my family is from Athenas and Athenas we call them campos, which is more like the village side. But within the village side, you know, there is a town. And so the town is more vibrant. And that's where some people go for tourism. The town itself is very vibrant but when you start to go deeper into Athenas, you have these small campos, you the little houses and stuff. Their water system can be completely different. And so for them, their water system could be completely different, depending on on how the family is earning their money. My uncle who who lived in Athenas he his house and his plumbing system is very much advanced. So, you know, they have running water, but they can't use the water to drink. It's more so to shower and for the plumbing system. But when you go in to different parts of Dominican Republic that are more, I guess, lower income, you definitely do see the lack of of water. You go into the richer side of the world, the president lives governor, mayor or whatever. And then you, of course, have the artists, the singers, the influencers who live in bigger houses and who probably have more access to water or accessible access to water. 

DaSh. K. Rouse The water faucet is completely contaminated. Within the country, there are septic tanks that poorer communities drink from. The issue with this is that the water is contaminated with bacteria, insects and even dead birds have been reported to be found in numerous tanks in the country. Drinking from this is dangerous, this is what leads to the people of the DR to drink from the river. As for wealthier communities, there are trucks that carry clean water for the people. Within these wealthier neighborhoods, most of the population still buy store bought rather than utilizing the trucks. These trucks rarely go to the poorer communities. Is there an alternative for those people that can't afford store bought water? Is drinking water from the river their next best option? 

Mariam Sherrif You definitely cannot drink from the faucet itself, even when you look up what should I consider when traveling to Dominican Republic online? That is one of the first things that they will tell you is that the water is not safe to drink from from the tap because of bacteria and other stuff. That being said, there is a water gallon truck that comes around to the different neighborhoods. And I'm not sure if you have to pay for these water gallons. But for my family, for example, we have a water gallon and we get a few of those to last us throughout the month. And then when we run out, we basically resupply or you basically go to the grocery store and get bottled water, which is the next best thing. And so for many people, if you could afford it, then that's great. And it's not you know, for many of us who probably don't even live by a river that's close by. So we probably have to ask, like neighbors or family, friends that live closer if we can have some other water supply in which they would probably be open to sharing with you. But for many people who I do live by the river, I'm pretty sure that their next best bet is probably getting water from the river and somehow trying to purify the water. I do know that when my mom was younger, she was telling me stories about how they would always have to carry water from the river. And that was a really, really far walk and really long walk. And if you know anything about carrying water for your family, it's not just going to be one bucket, it's going to be multiple buckets and multiple trips. So for some people, that still is a reality, but it is more of a developing country. So there's a little bit more water access around the island. 

DaSh. K. Rouse OK, so we know the next best option is getting water from the river because of the dangers of consuming from septic tanks. But cholera seems to be living within the waters of the D.R. Cholera is a diarrheal infection caused by ingestion of contaminated water. It can be deadly within hours if not treated. Children are proven to be most vulnerable. Diarrhea causes half the deaths of children under age 1 in the country. Poorer neighborhoods near the Haitaian border are affected more because they are less aware of the infection. Nearly two thousand cases of cholera have been confirmed as of June last year, according to the General Directorate of Epidemiology of the Dominican Ministry of Public Health. How is cholera being informed on the island? 

Mariam Sherrif I think one of the ways that, you know, that Dominicans are being informed about it, I feel like it's kind of something that's like well duh, like we've been knowing, you know, for many of us were kind of like, well, we just don't drink from the from the tap because it's it's dangerous. It's not good. It can get you sick. And so I feel like one way that they are being informed is maybe by organizations that come into the island to volunteer their time and are eager about spreading clean water throughout the island for Dominicans. So that's one way is by having these, like nonprofit organizations come in. My mom has she drank water? I think it was either she drank water from the tap or. They got the wrong source of water from somewhere because you can't even though you do go to a store, you can't just buy any type of water. So I know that, like, whenever we go back to visit, there's a specific brand that my family gets, and that's the type of water that my mom is more used to because it's more like the water that we have here in the States. So when she had the water, with vomiting. She couldn't eat for days. She was dehydrated, much like the symptoms of cholera. But she was able to get it treated. She was able to get some antibiotics. But, for a lot of other people who can't afford that or, don't know what's happening and they just think that it's just like a common cold or something or a stomach bug, you know, it is fatal for them. I think that one way that we can improve awareness is by going into communities of lower income or of lower knowledge. I don't know about what's happening and really trying to, I guess, educate them. And it does start with the youth educating the older community. It really does start with the government trying to take a hard stance on it. I think that it really just comes up to the Dominican people to organize around that.  

DaSh. K. Rouse In 2014, Flint, Michigan dealt with a water crisis that led to lead-poisoned water into homes. We saw a massive amount of youth within the community getting involved. Should we be getting the youth involved in these affairs, could we learn something from fresher minds that are actually living through the crisis?

Mariam Sherrif Well, you know, like you said, like there's about eight hundred and forty four million people that don't have access to clean water worldwide, so it's not just international, but it's also, you know, in our own backyard. So we take Flint for example. And, you know, we saw what happened in Flint and we saw the organizing that went around that. Right with the young activists who were basically tired of having her water poisoned. So that's one way to take a stand, is by organizing and speaking out about these injustices and, you know, viewing where these injustices are happening. Right. Is it just happening in the wealthier communities or is it happening in communities of lower income? And what type of what type of people live in those communities? Right. So I definitely think that organizing around that is very, very important. And I think that that's one issue, one way that we can get that issue resolved. Obviously, Rome wasn't built within a day, but, you know, these things do take time. But it is also a time sensitive matter, as this has to say. And, you know, another way to really stay informed is, you know, being educated about that. So like I said, like, it's not necessarily just up to the youth, but, you know, the revolution has always been in the hands of the youth. So if there's an issue that the younger generation doesn't really understand, then it's really up to the youth to kind of carry that torch and to shed light on that. 

DaSh. K. Rouse Solea Water is a nonprofit organization formerly known as Water for Panama. This organization was formed in October of 2012. They work to repair and implement new water systems. One of their values is empowering local communities by including them in every decision process.What should organizations do to help with the water crisis? 

Mariam Sherrif Well, I think that their mission or their value set at best is empowering local communities by including them in every decision and in every process. And I think that's something that the world is missing, including communities in the decision making process. Right. I think that one of the things that we see and something like anthropologists have said is that people will go into these communities not knowing what the people are facing and just want to know, this is what we're going to do. We're going to add this, this and that and the third. And it's going to be very beneficial for you guys and, you know, problems solved when in reality, maybe that just made the problem even worse and it didn't even fix the problem that they actually needed. So I definitely think that when you go into communities, it's really important to listen to what it is that they're saying and not just listening to them, but try to experience what it is that they're, you know, like you don't want to go in there as the expert, even though it may seem like you are. But really just go in there as if you live in that community. Right. As if your children are drinking this water, as if your grandparents are drinking this water or trying to cook with this water for really putting yourself in their shoes. And not just, you know, coming in as I'm the expert, I know what I'm doing or we know what we're doing and kind of dissing their emotions and their experiences.

DaSh. K. Rouse To conclude, the ultimate goal for this podcast is raise awareness for the 

country’s water crisis, to give some insight of what's really happening and not what's just being reported. Awareness leads to more involvement and opportunity to change parts of the world that's in need. Potential organizations can be planned like a sanitation task force, a cholera research team, etc. Raising awareness for the country's crisis can lead to change in policy or even create new policies like creating product-based incentives like crops or water bottles for urban areas to decrease consumptions that lead to contamination. Even increasing funding for wastewater and chlorination treatments while also increasing investments in research of preventable measures for natural disasters are highly recommended when establishing a better policy. And it all starts with awareness.