Absurd … then refreshing
View(s):There were two developments this week that caught our attention: one of which was refreshing while the other bordered on total absurdity and insanity – at least in the Sri Lankan context.
This is the ice bucket challenge that has gone viral, attracting many Sri Lankans (for the wrong reasons) and a refreshing counter, the only one heard of, by an enterprising Nepalese woman.
Local politician – Malsha Kumaratunga took part in the ice bucket challenge and cajoled others to do the same. Her Western Provincial Council colleague Hirunika Premachandra joined in the fun (that’s what it is, isn’t it?). So did Sri Lankan cricket veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara; one would have expected them to have some common sense and help instead in drought relief work (that is, if not done already).
These Sri Lankans and others joining or supporting this event have forgotten or don’t have a clue about the thousands in Sri Lanka’s drought-affected districts suffering without water to drink. Here were Sri Lankans wasting water for an international cause or to be part of the ‘now’ social media generation, blissfully unaware of a major crisis at home confronting over a million people.
To many it was more a fad than feeding a cause, and sharing this excitement of taking part with the discourse in coffee shops, bars and social gathering. Catch these social groups discussing the drought and desperate Sri Lankans without water? Very unlikely, not even on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Linkin, Instagram, etc
Don’t these politicians and other gullible Sri Lankans realise that charity begins at home and rather than waste water, they could have been more innovative and transformed that challenge to donating a bucket of water or provisions – making use of the excitement over this challenge – for drought affected residents in the north central province? Make it infectious, turn it into a social media ‘disease’ but do it for the right reasons. It is still not too late.
It took one Nepalese woman to drum up enough courage and challenge this bizarre event with her own ‘fill the bucket with rice’ for starving populations.
According to a AFP news agency report, while thousands of people worldwide have doused themselves since June with a bucket of icy water, then posted a video recording of the stunt online and challenged others to do the same or pledge a donation, 38-year-old Manju Latha Kalanidhi, who works for oryza.com, a website focused on rice research, came up with her own challenge #RiceBucketChallenge#, encouraging social media users to donate a bucket or bowl of rice to someone in need.
In Nepal, people were asked to load up plastic buckets with food and medical supplies to help families displaced by deadly flooding and landslides this month in the Himalayan nation, the report said.
“We received about 25 buckets today and a local school is bringing 100 tomorrow,” said Sunny Manandhar, whose Kathmandu clothing store Curves is serving as a collection centre. Contributor Binayak Basnyat, 24, told AFP that “… this makes more sense for Nepal”.
In Sri Lanka, opposition United National Party politicians have condemned the ice bucket challenge. “Wasting water like this in a tropical country is an insult to thousands who are suffering because of the drought,” opposition spokesman Mangala Samaraweera was quoted as saying.
It was reported that in Mumbai some Bollywood stars rejected the ice bucket challenge.
The event is said to have been initiated to support research and treatment for what is called the Lou Gehrigs Disease (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
While the world needs support for noble causes like this, there are many causes and crises that need support. In most cases, it’s the priority that must be considered. Is crisis A more important than crisis B, for example.
There won’t be any objection if concerned politicians and sports stars instantly jumped in (without waiting for a call and the ‘celebrity’ paraphernalia with the media in tow that goes with supporting causes) and had gone and helped drought-stricken people. That is helping villagers who don’t have social media; villagers who spend their day wondering where the next square meal would come from; villagers who find their crop, the livelihoods destroyed in front of their eyes as the drought saps lives and dries up any water resource.
And this is not a recent development. According to an April 2014 report compiled by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Maha drought has seriously damaged agricultural production and is threatening to significantly limit the upcoming Yala harvest.
“Three consecutive years of natural disasters has undermined household resilience: populations in affected areas have built up unsustainable levels of debts, have insufficient access to water for irrigation, have limited quality seed supply and are exposed to a continuing decline in agricultural income,” it said adding that food insecurity has increased dramatically to an estimated 768,000, more than double the figure in 2012.
As suggested earlier, even at this late stage, Sri Lankans would hopefully be wiser and empathise with their affected fellow beings at home, and help them before moving to international causes. The number of private companies that have answered the call for assistance with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce pitching in, with an organized effort, should provide enough examples of where and how to help struggling populations.
In another notable development, the well-known National Geographic Magazine in May began an 8-story series on ‘Feeding the World’. In the first comprehensive report (www.natgeofood.com), it said by 2050 there would be two billion more people (and a total of 9 billion people) on Planet Earth to feed. “How can we do that without overwhelming the planet?” it was asked.
The well compiled stories take into account earth’s resources, how to preserve it, sustain it while expanding agriculture production to meet the demand. In the Sri Lankan scenario, every drop of water that a family wastes in a Colombo home can in total feed dozens of starving families. These are issues that social media enthusiasts enamoured by the ice bucket challenge could also discuss, challenge and offer solutions. Going viral for this cause would be welcomed by everyone.