Again, the theme of our project in Nicaragua is “safe water and the environment”. I believe the responsibility lies on those who are most informed. I came to this conclusion by thinking about this theme in both developing and developed countries. For instance, in the U.S. most people are well informed on what constitutes clean water and why it’s important. The government has laws that lay out these facts for those who need a reminder. Laws have been instituted for water. For the environment, laws have also been enacted, but some of these laws are less clear and sometimes people interpret them differently. Also, not all environmental areas are covered under the law. For example, there is debate on whether carbon dioxide levels should be regulated and if yes, how it would be regulated. With countries similar to the U.S. the government has already laid out laws for the most part for the theme “safe water and the environment”. It’s up to the people to follow the laws that have been enacted. Also, in developed countries we have constantly been told and reminded about the benefits of recycling and composting. It’s up to us to do it. In developing countries, most people are not well informed on the theme. Culture and family history has ingrained in them customs and habits that aren’t necessarily the healthiest for their bodies. However, most people don’t know any better. In these cases, I believe it’s the responsibility of well-informed organizations, such as CARE or the government to educate the uninformed and to install programs to ease people into a different way of living that they aren’t use to. This may take a long time to successfully be completed, because there are more problems beyond economic limitations. As I mentioned, history and social customs lay a big part. But I stay firm on my statement those that are most well-informed on the social issue and have the means to educate have the responsibility to alleviate these conditions.
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