I recently became interested in the impact clean drinking water availability has on the education and quality of life of women and children. Water is something many people take for granted. However, billions of people are without access to clean drinking water and thousands of people die each year because they consume water contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites. Most of these fatalities are children. As I travel across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, I will document the drinking and sanitary water systems that are available to people living in each community I visit. I am traveling from Cali, Colombia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia in June and July by bus and will visit countless communities from the Pacific Coast to the Amazon River Basin. During this time I plan to do the following:

1. Review academic literature related to clean drinking water and education.
2. Reading and critical analysis: I will read 5 books and watch 3 documentaries related to the global water crisis and critically review each of them based on my reading and review of current academic literature.
3. Survey of water systems in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. I will create a photo log and travel blog related to water accessibility, quality and distribution systems.

I plan to read at least 5 of the following 10 books on water and critically analyze each of the texts:

1. Planet Water: Investing in the World's Most Valuable Resource (2009)
2. Water for Sale: How Business and the Market Can Resolve the World's Water Crisis (2005)
3. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century (2007)
4. Aqua Shock: The Water Crisis in America (2009)
5. Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (2010)
6. Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca (2002)
7. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century (2007)
8. In the Public Interest: Health, Education, and Water and Sanitation for All (An Oxfam International Research Report-2006)
9. ¡Cochabamba!: Water War in Bolivia (2008)
10. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit (2002)
11. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource (2001)

I will watch and analyze the following movies:

1. Blue Gold: World Water Wars (2008)
2. Flow: How did a handful of corporations steal our water (2007)
3. Beyond Global Warming (2008)

Interviews and surveys: As I travel from Cali, Colombia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia I will photograph and document the water systems that exist in each location. I will conduct informal interviews with residents to determine the accessibility of tap water, the quality of the tap water, where people get their drinking water and what systems are in place to dispose of waste water.