Transcript for Syeda Mahe Zehra One Take Video Contest Entry

Why is it that the thought of finding water on other planets excites our minds? Why is that one of the first questions we ask about a planet's composition? Simply because with water we find the hope that there will either be traces of life or the potential for it. But without water there can be no life as we know it. Many of us don't even stop to think where water comes from. It flows freely from our taps, it fills up our pools and it waters our yards all year long. We take water for granted. Everytime we look at a picture of the Earth, we see water everywhere. Infact our beloved Earth is teeming with life, on land, in the sea and air. We owe that life to water that covers 75% of our planet, but all of that water is not fit for human consumption. Only 2.5% of the world's water is freshwater or sweetwater and of that meagre percentage two-thirds is not available for human consumption. As we speak the human population grows and so does it's need for water. Even now more than one-third of the world's population suffers from a lack of water. In Africa and Asia in some places water has to be carried in pails and jars. This job usually falls to the women in the house. They spend upto five hours a day making sure there is sufficient water in their homes, and even then these people suffer from a lack of clean safe drinking water. Some of the water consumed in these places is not safe and leads to various illnesses and diseases. Appearences can be deceptive! Even though it looks like we are surrounded with water we are, infact suffering from a lack of it! We must conserve water as a valuable natural resource. Together we can quench the thirst of the world. Clean safe drinking water is a universal right!