Kabita Lohar lives in Pipriya village, a community located at the banks of the Mahakali River in Nepal. She is usually seen walking along the riverbank, carrying a blue box which contains equipment and chemicals to test the quality of water in the river. As Kabita carefully collects water samples (样本) from the river into her test-tube and observe the color of the water, she says, “Our rivers are getting polluted; we need to raise awareness and encourage the community to save our rivers.”
Kabita is one of the many citizen scientists trained by Oxfam. Around five years ago, Oxfam started working with the communities living in the riverbanks of the Mahakali River through a project called Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA). The project aims to give the riverside communities more access to and control over water resources. “We use this data to encourage effective measures and raise awareness about water pollution among the community members and local government,” says Kabita.
People used to believe that the water in at the Mahakali River contains something that is good for health, so it was a common practice to drink water directly from the river. But with the data on water pollution provided by citizen scientists like Kabita, they could raise awareness of the importance of not drinking water directly from the river.
Kabita says, “A few months ago, we spoke with our mayor (市长) about introducing measures to prevent the inflow of waste made by families and hotels into the river. Our mayor has stated that he will meet our demands. But we don’t just want promises; we want action, and we will keep following up until the promise becomes a reality.”
【小题1】Why does Kabita walk along the bank?A.To clean the riverbanks. | B.To collect experimental data. |
C.To enjoy nature for relaxation. | D.To collect water from family use. |
A.By showing them the truth. |
B.By finding clean water for them. |
C.By encouraging effective measures. |
D.By stopping pouring waste into the river. |
A.Energetic. | B.Confident. | C.Organized. | D.Determined. |
A.Water pollution is serious in Nepal. |
B.Science is helpful in reducing pollution. |
C.A citizen scientist fights water pollution. |
D.A youth makes a difference to her village. |