MANAVAI: A Call to Protect Sacred Waters
First celebrated in 1993 with the goal of raising awareness about the importance of water, World Water Day has now become a multi-faceted year-round movement. Though it has been adopted by the United Nations as Sustainable Development Goal #6, the importance of water goes well beyond any organizations, government agencies, or day on the calendar. World Water Day has become a time to bring together the many individuals and groups working to protect, restore, and celebrate this precious resource. Since 2013 Unify.org has leveraged the power of social media to accelerate the global movement to heal our planet and her people. All week there will be programs to celebrate this important call to protect sacred waters.
So often the environmental movement focuses on problems that leave people feeling overwhelmed and hopeless about the challenges we face. Unify has always taken a different approach by placing indigenous wisdom, solutions, and inspiration at the center of their online campaigns. True engagement starts with a feeling of belonging, a love for water, a sense of connection within the greater community, and a reverence for all of life. This empowers people to do something to create positive change because each individual has their own special role to play in the healing of our planet.
MANAVAI: In collaboration with The Olohana Foundation on the Big Island of Hawaii, multiple organizations have decided to center the call to protect our waters on the spiritual wisdom of Polynesian Culture. Island nations are important for many reasons. They are often the ones feeling the brunt of rising sea levels and powerful storms due to climate change. They are also some of the first people to navigate the oceans through their strong connection to the waters and the stars. This culture evolved on small remote islands where sustainability is a way of life. Increasingly today we are recognizing that our Planet Earth is also like an island of life in a vast ocean of stars.
Mana is a spiritual energy and healing power which can exist in places, objects, and individuals according to Hawaiian and Tahitian Culture. Many believe that mana may be gained or lost by a person’s actions. Mana can be cultivated as it is both external and internal.
Vai (Wai) is the word for water. Manavai represents the power of water and people when we come together with a shared vision of healing. In the spirit of Aloha, that we all share the same sacred breath of life, we celebrate our inter-connectivity with each other through water. With this comes our responsibility (kuleana) to be good stewards, to protect and restore the waters of the world. Join us for another celebration of this movement in World Water Day on March 22.
World Water Law: The most efficient and holistic strategy for restoring both human and environmental health is to prioritize the healing of our planetary Waters — the foundation of health, and the source and sustenance of all Life on Earth. As humanity evolves to recognize the essential Rights of Nature, we are now called to stand for the Right of Water to be protected and restored to its original pristine nature. You can learn more about this powerful initiative and see the many organizations that are collaborating to make World Water Law a reality by visiting their website.
“The water of life, the first medicine of the world, is so precious to every living thing that grows, breathes and lives. The water is the female blood of Mother Earth that brings life. A woman brings children in this world through water of the womb, she then cleans her children with water, cooks and feeds them with water. She plants and waters her gardens. The trees that grow and provide air need water. Water is life and as we say Mni Wiconi — Water of Life! We will continue to stand for the water so that we may live.
The World Water Law is a great way for all people to unite around our water and demand a binding international law protecting one of our Mother Earth’s prime resources.” — Ta Mak’a Wast’e Win, Her Good Earth Woman, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard
Privatization and Desecration: Our economic system is driven by scarcity, supply and demand. The more scarce a product is, the more demand and the more potential profits. This model is fundamentally flawed when you consider the privatization of water, and large corporations or individuals buying-up water rights driven by profit-motives. In recent years Nestle has been targeted as a large corporation indulging this practice. It is tragic that public risk and private greed create the conditions where Wall Street is moving to transform water from being the source of life to a source of private wealth.
The Story of Stuff Project has been a global leader is educating people about important social and environmental issues for over a decade. They have created a coalition to demand that controversial Nestlé Waters’ sites be returned to public ownership before their proposed $4 Billion sale of Arrowhead, Poland Spring, Zephyrhills, Pure Life, Ice Mountain and others, to private equity firm One Rock Capital. In November 2020 they delivered a joint letter co-signed by more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and Canada to Nestle’s Swiss corporate headquarters. This massive private transfer of ‘water wealth,’ is an especially ominous development in light of Wall Street’s accelerating interest in ‘water futures’ trading.
In addition to privatization and desecration of sacred waters, these bottled water companies are some of the leading producers of plastic pollution on the planet. This is where people are making a huge difference by refusing to buy bottled water and instead using reusable water bottles. Talk to your friends about this issue, help raise awareness, and share this information on social media. Together we will wrestle control of water from private companies and return them to public stewardship to ensure future water security for all life. Now is the time for people to come together like a rushing river and demand an end to the bottling of water for private profit. You can get involved to support this important initiative by visiting their website here.
We envision a world where ancestral wisdom, modern science, creative expression, and emerging technology weave together to restore balance and harmony with Mother Earth. -Tribute Earth, World Water Day Partner
A Collaborative Holistic Approach: Water is life. It represents cleansing, healing, and unity. When the waters are troubled, all life is threatened. The issues facing water are vast including privatization, pollution, droughts, floods, access to water for hygiene, farming, health and beyond. This includes things like oceans, our coral reefs, the fish, rainfall, forests, rivers, lakes, springs and just about everything that lives on our planet. That’s why healing the waters starts through our personal connection and relationship with water. We are inviting people around the world to deepen this important relationship with water by participating in a 7-Day Water Experience.
Each of us has a part to play in the healing of our sacred waters. Please be sure to share this article in your networks and participate in this movement every day. The Unify Livestream will begin at 11am PDT on March 22 with a Synchronized Ceremony at 3pm PDT. Please comment where you are watching from and share the stream on your own Facebook Wall!
Water is the foundation of life and when many waters flow together there is great power. This is MANAVAI! When we come together as people and place our differences aside in order to steward, protect, and heal the waters we will become an unstoppable force of nature. The importance of water goes well beyond any organizations, government agencies, or day on the calendar. Please celebrate water and take action with us all year!