A life source, a life line
It is difficult sometimes to think of a family going without water for almost a week because when you think of water, you think of the universality of it in terms of accessibility. How easy we have it, being able to draw our source of life based on want. To some of the families and children fleeing the Rohingya crisis, this source of life is based on a need and not a want, because what we consider basic is not basic to them at all. It is almost priceless, it is a gem.

One has to ask, does freewill really come with the perks of being able to make a choice if the choice you make is one which holds more of a negative outcome than a positive. Finding water often isn't where the challenge lies for these children, but finding clean water is. This is where the choice comes in. Do they drink contaminated water in a bid to quench their thirst and risk suffering diseases or do they allow their thirst to continue until it gets the best of them?

You'd be surprised to know that the need for vaccines against diseases such as cholera races to match the need for clean water as a result of the former being the favoured choice. It is no surprise that an absence of clean water leads to diseases, and diseases lead to death. Several children have lost their lives due to diseases arising because of lack of clean water. The remedy? Provide clean water, eradicate the diseases. Easier said than done however, because the question remains as to if clean water can be provided for a whole nation. I say it can.

It is often said that you never know the value of something until you lose it, but this has applied too harshly. The world is made up of 70% water, but can we provide the Rohingya children with enough to make it a basic necessity again? Can we hand them a life line?