This year, the IU East community is reading Wine to Water for the One Book, Many Voices program (we have several copies at the library available for checkout – ask at the front desk).  It is the story of Doc Hendley, a North Carolina bartender who decided to go to Darfur to help the people get access to clean water.  There, he repaired broken wells, had water trucked to refugee camps, distributed chlorine tablets for purifying contaminated water, and more, all while navigating the war and ethnic cleansing between the Janjaweed and the Sudanese Liberation Army in one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Millions of people die each year because they don’t have access to clean water – either directly from thirst or through illnesses contracted from stagnant or contaminated water.  In the region of Sudan that Doc Hendley started in, destruction of water resources (including wells and water bladders he built and repaired) is used intentionally as part of the genocide against the people there.  When they couldn’t destroy wells, Janjaweed militants even dropped human and animal corpses into them to contaminate the water supply (p.168).

Today, Wine to Water works to establish clean water resources in several of the poorest countries in the world.  But access to clean water can be a problem anywhere in the world.  And the library has put together a handy resource guide for the One Book, Many Voices program.  In addition to information about the book and the upcoming visit by the author, this guide adds to the dialogue with information on local water resources and challenges, ebooks and journal articles detailing the global crisis, and material for teaching children about treatment, pollution, and responsibility.  It’s ideal for discussing the book or informing any related projects or assignments you might have this year.

Join the campus conversation about clean water!  And if you need any help, contact us at iueref@iue.edu!