Fix A Well, Change The World

February 01, 2012

Fix A Well, Change The World

Play

Dick sits down with Doc Hendley of the group Wine to Water and talks about his transition from bartending in Raleigh to working to bring clean water to people in Darfur. Despite the violence there, Doc says that bad water kills more people than the conflict.

and

Water

You might also like…

Joseph Shabalala

We hear from the musician about how he started the group Lady Smith Black Mambazo.

Listen

Egypt’s First Female Presidential Candidate

Dick speaks with Bothaina Kamel, an Egyptian journalist and activist who became her country’s first female presidential candidate last April.

Listen

No More Handshakes

After years of economic decay and months of political upheaval, Zimbabweans are now dealing with disease: since August, nearly 4,000 people have died of cholera. Abel Chikomo is a human rights activist in Harare, and a Catholic. As he tells Dick Gordon, the risk of cholera is so great, his church has banned handshaking during the Sign of the Peace.

Listen

Sean Cole Meets His Neighbors in Brooklyn

Contributor Sean Cole walks around Greenpoint, his new neighborhood in Brooklyn, to see what's going on in one part of shuttered New York. He finds a chauffeur who has no work, and a woman who had to leave her home.

Listen

Just Another Fish Story

A whale washes up on the shore of Lubec, Maine, and people have different theories about the meaning of its arrival – and how to get rid of it.

Listen

Follow Up - Blessing in Disguise

Residents of Fargo, N.D. are still waiting to see what the damage will be from last month's flooding. Alice Evans would tell them one thing: the damage can take weeks, even months to reveal itself.

Listen

Willie's Fight

Willie Corduff is a farmer who lives in northwest Ireland. In 2000, Willie learned that Shell Oil planned to build a high-pressure gas pipeline that would run across his land. Willie said no to Shell's plans. But both Shell and the Irish government told him he had no choice in the matter. Rather than consent, Willie and four neighbors went to jail. This year, Willie was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize - the world's largest prize honoring grassroots environmentalists. Also in this episode: Chuck Fister's story of the stolen horse and buggy.

Listen

Good Water: A Filter That Works

Our series continues today with a look at technology. Charles Fishman, author of The Big Thirst, has seen plenty of water filters that fail and he talks about the "people factor." Physicist Ashok Gadgil grew up in India where several of his baby cousins died from bad drinking water. He came up with a kind of filter that's cheap and easy to repair, and he's hopeful about the success. It means millions of people now have clean water to drink.