Water Village
Introduction of running water to village led to infighting?

I've heard of these stories on more than one occasion where a village (perhaps African or Papua New Guinean) is finally given running water as a result of human rights lobby groups' efforts, which, in the short run, helped stem dehydration and disease but eventually led to fights between village members because they no longer had to make daily travels out of their region to retrieve water anymore.

This has always fascinated me insomuch as the intentions were good but the outcome somewhat negated the benefit. And I know it has actually taken place because I've been told stories by university professors and read fictional accounts in novels. So, if someone could post a link or even give me an idea of which country or region this may have happened in it would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Yes, this has occurred. There are three incidents of which I am aware. First, when a steel axe was introduced into a culture replacing the traditional stone axe (Steel Axes for Stone–Age Australians by Lauriston Sharp From Human Organization 1 /1952 from “The pleasures of anthropology”, 1969. Society for Applied Anthropology), second a fictional account of a similar event, The Gods Must Be Crazy (a coke bottle is thrown from an airplane) (see below), and three, from Colin Turnbull's book -- The Forest People. A young child was unable to walk, Turnbull, feeling he should help the young man fashioned crutches. The young man was then able to play with his peers, i.e., please recall, "playing" was the manner in which children from this group (the Bambuti of the Belgian Congo) learned how to become adults.

Also see, Change and Culture by Larry Naylor, page 150.

FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a Sho of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian San farmer Nǃxau) whose nation has no knowledge of the world beyond. The film is followed by four sequels, the final three of which were made in Hong Kong.



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