Way back in 1882, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote “An Enemy of the People.”
The play is about a doctor who warned his community about contaminated water.
Politicians tried to silence him.
That play was written more than a century ago, and yet, the threats to clean water persist, now more than ever.
On March 22 each year, we observe United Nations World Water Day.
This year, according to organizers, the objective is to accelerate change to solve the world-wide water and sanitation crisis because "dysfunction throughout the water cycle is undermining progress on all major global issues, from health to hunger, gender equality to jobs, education to industry, disasters to peace.
Rapid, transformative change is needed, and everyone can play a part.
Every action – no matter how small – will make a difference."
We at Interlochen, between the lakes and encircled by two of the Great Lakes, are blessed - blessed and challenged to change the way we use, consume and manage water.
In Ibsen’s play, the individual who endeavored to protect water quality was deemed “an enemy of the people.”
If that is the case, may we all be deemed “enemies.”
