Water worth more than gold

Dear Editor,

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but what if those showers don't come?

In my case, the vase and rose bowl on my birthday would be empty. No roses or a carnation!

Ask any farmer in our part of Nebraska. Water is a precious resource that cannot be taken for granted. Soil in the Cornhusker state needs it.

Generally, even during a drought, we can get a drink from the tap or find bottled water somewhere.

However, for more than a billion people in the world, there is no access to safe drinking water. The famine in East Africa in 2011 was caused by the worst drought in 60 years. Crops withered, livestock died and human beings perished.

Women in many parts of the African continent spend most of the day searching for drinking water. The small amount that they do find is unsafe to drink.

People fled from Somalia to Ethiopia in 2011 because of no water. Efforts are being made in 2011-12 y UNICEF, Save the Children, church groups and humanitarian organizations to solve Africa's water crisis.

Villagers in Ethiopia have been digging small cement-lined water storage tanks. When rain does come, they cover they so they can have clean drinking water.

In Exodus 15:22-27 in the Old Testament, Moses was confronted with a serious water shortage. The Israelites were about to die from thirst after escaping from bondage in Egypt. At long last, they found some palm trees and water at Elim.

Water is worth more than gold.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Nebraska