Compiladores / Compilers:Luis E. Marín

Víctor h. Martínez C.Manuel Ortíz

Oscar A. Escolero

México, 2006

Red del AguA

AcAdemiA mexicAnA de cienciAsMEXICAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCESDr. Octavio Paredes López Presidente President

Red del AguA de lA AcAdemiA mexicAnA de cienciAsWAtEr NEtWOrk OF thE MEXICAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCESDr. Luis E. MarínCoordinadorChair

con la colaboración de unescOWith UNESCO´s colaboration:Programa internacional de HidrologíaInternational Hydrology Programme

Dr. Alice AureliEspecialista del programaProgramme Specialist

María Concepción Donosohidrología regional para América Latina y el CaribeRegional Hydrology for Latin America and the Caribbean

Coordinadores editorialesDr. Luis E. MarínMtro. Víctor h. Martínez C.

Diseño y realización editorialPlastikwww.plastik.com.mx “Children’s Letters to Ministers”, Primera edición 2006Dr © 2006, Academia Mexicana de Ciencias “Casa tlalpan”km. 23.5, Carretera Federal México-CuernavacaCalle Cipreses s/n, Col. San Andrés totoltepectlalpan, 14400, México, D.F.aic@servidor.unam.mx http://www.amc.unam.mxhttp://geoinf.igeolcu.unam.mx/rdar

ISBN 968-7428-24-4Impreso en México / Printed in Mexico

Why this book about children and water? Children’s Letters to Ministers is a small book with big ideas. We quickly see that children — rural or urban, rich or poor— intuitively know the importance of water in all its complexity. Young people know that everyone can contribute to the support of the long-term abundance and purity of water, the education of populations, and the increase of political will for its sound distribution, management and conservation, in the interests of our collective future, I urge everyone to listen to and leam from these young voices about our most precious resource: water.

Andras Szollosy-NagyDeputy Assistant Director General

Subdirector General UNESCO

¿Por qué este libro acerca de los niños y el agua? Children´s Letters to Ministers es un libro pequeño con grandes ideas. rapidamente podemos ver que los niños --de zonas rurales o urbanas, ricos o pobres-- intuitiva-mente conocen la importancia del agua en toda su complejidad. La gente joven sabe que a largo plazo, todos podemos contribuir a la abundancia y pureza del agua, la educación de la población y a una mayor voluntad política para su justa distribución, manejo y conservación. Por el interés de nuestro futuro colectivo, invito a todos a escuchar y aprender de estas pequeñas voces acerca de nuestro más preciado recurso: el agua.

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Presentation / Presentación

Existe una gran preocupación por la falta de información que la sociedad en general tiene con respecto a nuestros recursos hidráulicos. La red del

Agua de la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias se acerco a los niños para ayudar-les a transmitir sus preocupaciones a los ministros del agua y del ambiente que participarán en el Cuarto Foro Mundial del Agua. Se dieron pláticas en escuelas primarias en la parte Central de México y los niños respondieron, ya sea a través de una carta o de un dibujo o pintura. Su mensaje de esperanza, sus sugerencias y sus frustraciones se encuentran plasmadas en las siguientes páginas.

there has been growing concern over the lack of information that society as a whole has with respect to our water resources. the Water Network

of the Mexican Academy reached out to children to help them communicate their concerns to the water and environmental ministers that will be attending the Fourth World Water Forum. talks were given at grammar schools in Central Mexico and the kids responded by either writing a letter or sending a draw-ing or painting. their messages of hope, their suggestions, and frustrations are expressed in the following pages.

Nota del editor: Los materiales contenidos en este libro fueron plasmados de manera literal; por lo tanto, se

mantuvieron los errores en las traducciones, ortografía y gramática.

Editor’s note:All the translations contained in this book are meant to be literal; ergo, translations include

grammar, spelling, and other mistakes.

10

I like water a lot. Water is very important.

Water gives us a lot of life. It is great that water exists!

to the ministers:I would like to make you know that we are running out of water and we are doing nothing about it. I propose that we inform people about what is going on that way people would be conscious about taking care of the water, because if we keep wasting it there would be no water and without water we cannot live and we need to think that we are not the only ones we need to think about other living beings that are the animals and plants and both of them need water to live.the biggest part of our body is made out of water. Industries shouldn’t throw away their waste into the sea because of that the sea is getting polluted and because of that the water is getting polluted, a lot of living beings die because of that cause. Other people doesn’t have sufficient water for them, in some places there is only one bathroom per colony and the only way to collect water is through a well that has wa-ter that is not a 100% usable. I hope that you do something for the water.Goodbye see you soon.

12

Ministers: Greetings, I would like to ask you for the following: Please inform people about the water situation, because the majority of them don’t know anything about it. Please solve the African situation, because the majority of people walk for 2 hours just to get 2 buckets of water and I think it is not fair ; poor people! Please do something about it, the worst part is that the people drink polluted water from those buckets. Last, I would like you to consider our letters and drawings, because many times you don’t listen to us. Bye and have a nice day.

13

Now take care of water!

the earth is getting dry

14

Water ministers:By this mean I would like to inform you that I am concerned about the water situation, because later we will be fighting to have it; forests jungles, and animals will disappear, and we will die too due to the lack of food and oxygen. I have an idea, do research on purifying salt water. thanks for your time.

15

Ministers: I address you with great respect to bring to your attention the following: I want to let you know that you should help the people from Africa that have to walk 2 hours to get a bucket of water. I also have a suggestion: You should tell people that they can run out of water and how to avoid wasting water. I think that you do well in organizing these events and I believe that you are the perfect example to take care of the water. I also think that there shouldn’t be so many water parks because it is a waster of water, I’m not saying that you should prohibit water parks; it is just a suggestion. I also think that you should look into the open area washrooms in different places. thanks for you attention and please read.

16

hi: I think that in order to avoid the water loss while we shower, we should close the shower while we rub ourselves with soap and after we do that we just rinse ourselves. Water is very important to me because we need it for living and it is essential in our body, also, without water the animals and plants will be extinct and we would have a sad world. take care of the water!

1�

these could be the last dropstake care of the water

18

Mister ministerI would like to say to you, that I enjoy living and that I don’t want the water to be wasted. I hope everything goes well at your appointment I use just a little water and that they put it in a magazine. Please take care of our lives and the water. the picture illustrates how I use water

19

Dear Minister : I believe that you ministers have a lot of money, and that with that money you could build washrooms in poor towns. If there is any reason for you not doing that I would like to be notified. I am lucky because I have water, but there are some people that are not so lucky, and I would like you to help them with the money that you make. You could do a lot for those people because you know what is going on in the world and I think you could do something about it.

2020

Fortunately our planet is the blue planet; don’t let it turn brown. Why spend 30 minutes in the shower, if 10 are enough?

Don't let this happen!

21

Ministers of the water:I would like to inform you that I’m very concerned about the problem we are having with the people that waste the water; I believe they should be penalized. I believe that we should use the remaining water in a good way. An idea could be to investigate if salt water could be purified in order to use it in a better way. and have it for a longer time. thanks for your attention and time.

22

r.I.P. WAtErIf we don’t do something, this could happen in the near future.

23

hello Mister Minister : I suggest you to stop giving away water to the U.S.A. and that they get their own water. I also suggest that water should be fair, because the poor people get a little and the rich people get a lot, they even get showers for their gardens. the pipes should be checked out, because sometimes the water leaks, and that’s why we run out of it. Poor people, in some cases, they drink polluted water while others waste it by leaving the faucet open. I suggest that you count how many liters of water are used in that house each day and fine them if it’s a lot.

24

25

I say that water is one of the most important things in life because if we run out of it we will die because none can live without water. We are lots of millions of people in the world and if we keep wasting it there is not going to be any water left for anyone in the world.

take care of me!

28

Mister Minister : I think that in order to save water you should crate a toilet that runs on air and that we should also install a huge purifying water factory and this way we can purify the sewage water. I wish you could listen to at least one of my ideas, because I think that way we could save a lot of water.

29

Dear Ministers: In Mexico we are running out of water because some people waste a lot of wa-ter. I have my own opinions, maybe they can be useful to waste less water, they are: 1.- Don’t waste water while you wash your hands and close the faucet when you are done. 2.- Don’t own a pool if you are not using it, because you could use that water to drink. 3.- take a quick shower to avoid wasting water and quickly close the shaft. 4.- Don’t waste the water if you are not going to drinking it. those are my opinions and I hope you take them into consideration.

30

hi Minister : the firs thing that I would like to tell you if you are reading this text, is that I sug-gest to you and to every one else that when you shower you use water savers, like buckets or small showers, treating sewage that water could be reused, but the government uses the money for other things, so if you mister minister are a good person thinking about others first go to the government and tell them, thank you if you do so and the government handles better the politics. Water a necessity, you are wasting the water with no cause at all, so please take care of Mexico City’s water, the largest city in the world.

31

No, thirty minutesYes, ten minutes

32

Ministers: First of all, I would like to ask you to read my letter because I have a few ideas that could solve the water problem that is present all over the world. I have thought that we can use hydraulic pumps to transport the sea water from the shores to the places that don’t have any, or areas with droughts, this of course would have to go through a filter that would remove the salt and make it drink-able and clean, could be used for watering plants, and thus, we would have fruit and food in places where there is hunger due to a lack of water, and many species would be saved from extinction due to climatic change. Another idea is that each house could have its own filter to clean and purify water so it could be reused in a constant cycle. the rainfall could also be collected and used to water plants that would produce more oxigen. I hope that these ideas are use-ful to you and that you can use them to solve the water situation in the planet thanks a lot.

33

hi ministers: I have an idea for water recycling first the water goes into a well then into a tube then into a machine that cleans it and last into a another that returns it to the city just like the picture illustrates.

34

Dear Mrs. ministers, I’m writing to tell you an idea that could work. As you know we are running out of drinking water. Why don’t you filter a sea? the idea is to build a huge filter to clean the seawater. the fishes and algae that come out could be evacuated to a different sea or an aquarium. I hope this helps. Good luck.

35

We can do it

36

Ministers that study water I would like to congratulate you for being the first ones to study water, I suggest that the one that pollutes pays $5,000,000. As kids, can we help you in your water research?

3�

38

Mister water Minister : Water is very important for life. I like pools a lot, but I don’t like showering and I still shower once a day. Water could be saved this way: When you fix your hair, don’t leave the water running, take a quick shower, put more clothes in the washing machine to waste less water, don’t throw water balloons, don’t flush the toilet for too long to waste less water, close the water while you wash your hands, I believe that rain water should be used for washing the dishes and stuff like that.

39

40

re: water project opinion:Ministers that study water: I would like to thank you for your concern about water. We the kids are also very concerned about this situation because water is a vital resource. I think that there should be laws to fine those who pollute water and use the fine money to clean the water. I also think that we should be more informed, sometimes I feel we are not taken into account, but we also have solutions.

41

Yes / No

42

I propose: that everyone who is wasting water whoever sees him tell him don’t waste the water because there are children that need it because I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes you have water, electricity, telephone and they would give anything to have what you have don’t waste it please.I would like poor children to have what we all have like: electricity, water, tele-phone, and all of the food we have, but in reality it makes me sad, really sad to see a man wasting water, and if you would try to tell him something he would get really mad he puts a magnet on the water meter so that he can use all of the water he wants without paying for it.Mister, don’t waste water Shut up!

43

46

I don’t want the water to be gone. Please do something; there are people that take up to an hour to shower. Can you imagine life without water? have you thought about it? take care of me!

4�

Dear Ministers: I would like you to send water all over the world. and that the water is not dirty.

48

take care of the water

49

Dear Minister : By this mean, I would like to request that you develop a campaign dedicated to reduce the water waste and to make the city aware about how to save in the consumption of water. I am at your disposal.

50

If you are not using me, don’t waste me there's no water!

51

Dear Ministers:I’m writing you from Mexico City and I have concrete requests for you: I’m asking you to save water and to encourage other people to do so. I would like the remaining water of the cities to be redistributed to places that need it, and not to be sent to the waste water collection system. I would like you to build a giant filter, or something like that, to save water. Please take care of the water.

52

Por favor cuida el agua

53

Ministers:I would like to ask you to take care of water throughout the planet and don’t let anyone build cities in the beach and that's it.

54

I would like you to do something to avoid running out of water because there are a lot of children that aren’t born yet. We don’t want to run out of water like in other countries where they have to walk for hours to get their water somewhere else all just to get dirty water.

55

Dear Ministers: hi, I send you greetings, I would like you to listen to my proposal. I would like to suggest you to fix the water problem in Africa because they suffer lack of water and it is not fair for us to have water easily, and that people in South Africa have to walk for two hours just to get a bucket of water. I would like to request to you to do something immediately. Also, I would like you to please do something about the poor areas in Mexico especially in the schools and houses that have a few bathrooms for a lot of people. I know that there is little water and that we need to distribute the water between everyone but if you don't do anything, then the time is going to be too late to stop this problem. thanks for listening to us and let us express our opinions about the water situ-ation. thanks a lot. Bye.

5656

2 towns that barely have drinking water.

1Big cities polluting.

5�

A few months ago a governor promised to clean some rivers and he hasn’t done it I would like all the polluted rivers to be cleaned, litter free, for the states that walk for km to collect water that on top of everything is polluted, why the government puts a water container in each little house and public school so they drink clean water and stop so many people from dying.

58

59

Don’t leave the faucets open

60

Dear Ministers I’m asking you to do anything that is possible to avoid pipes breaking because where I live they break a lot and I see broken water pipes and water gets wasted a lot and the water that leaks I believe is clean. Without leaks With leaks

61

Don’t get it dirty... take care of it.

Mister ministers let's take care of the water

64

65

Without water you wouldn't be here. take care of it!

66

Cascade

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68

69

Water

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If you don’t take care of me... you die.

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�2

�3

take care of me!

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keep the river and forests clean.

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�6

��

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We don’t want that to happen take care of the water

�9

take care of the water for a good today and a better tomorrow: close tightly the faucet, only one person at the time uses the water.

80

81

this is how you want your world to be

82

universidad nacional Autónoma de méxico / mexican national universityInstituto de Geofísica / Geophysics InstituteInstituto de Geología / Geology InstitutePosgrado en Ciencias de la tierra / Graduate Program in Geosciences

Estudiantes de las siguientes escuelas: / Students from the following schools:

Aguascalientes: Colegio Marista Pedro de Alva Portugal

México: Alexander Bain teceltican Intituto tlalpán Clase de Patricia rodríguez

David turcottElías Peréz L. Alberto MarínEdgar MartínezBertha CigüenzaMarisa MasariJ. Eduardo Cervantes Lorena Monter toledoDaniel Escolero

Agradecimientos / Acknowledgements

83

Luis E. Marín, Víctor Martínez, Manuel Ortíz, and Oscar Escolero are all interested in helping adults listen to the young voices' opinions on water.

Luis E. Marín, Víctor Martínez, Manuel Ortíz, and Oscar Escolero están interesados en ayudar a los adultos a escuchar las opiniones de las voces jóvenes sobre el agua.

Editado por la AcademiaMexicana de Ciencias

Se terminó de imprimir en marzo del 2006 en los talleres de torre y de la torre ubicados

en Aragón 134, Col. Álamos, México, D.F.

La edición constó de 5000 ejemplares y estuvo a cargo de Plastik.

En su composición se usaron tipos Sand para el titulo

y Gill Sans Light para los textos.

Edited by the MexicanAcademy of Sciences

Printed in March 2006 in the workshops of torre and de la torre located at Aragón #134,

Col. Álamos, México, D.F. Book's composition consited of 5000 picies

and was developed by Plástik. Book composition consisted of:

Sand type for the title and Gil Sans Light for the text.