International Water Cooperation

Today’s session of the Gabfest Speaking Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk) was visited by fewer people – due to the school holidays and the storm warning in the region.
We started the session with the small talk about Easter which is celebrated in the USA on Sunday, March, 31.
We have listened to and discussed the text “Easter in the USA” from the book “American Holidays” by Barbara Klebanow and Sara Fischer. The text was accompanied by a native speaker’s sound track. The most interested question was why bunny is a symbol of Easter.
    The official topic of the session was International Water Day 2013. This year’s theme is “International Water Cooperation”.  The UN poster “Cooperation or Competition?” was presented to the Club members. We have researched the water problems described on the poster.  The following factors lie at the roots of the water tension in the world:
•    neglect of treaties,
•    over-abstraction,
•    diversion,
•    scarcity,
•    pollution.
Each of the above factors was illustrated with a case from real life. The club members read and translated information about water tensions in Nile river region, in Mexico, in Aral Sea region, in Chine, etc.
The further discussion on Water Day issues drifted into the direction of the Ukrainian water problems. We have discussed the following problems:
•    the Danube river as a trans boundary watercourse and its pollution
•    International lakes in Ukraine and their problems: Azov Sea and Shatski lakes.
At the end of the session we’ve talked about Club affairs:
•    the Ukrainian souvenirs  acquired for the Club’s guest, the Fulbright exchange professor  Ms. H. Allen
•    the  illness of the club member Valeriy Shkuropat and our possibility to help him.
The session was educational and enjoyed by all the participants.
The number of participants – 19 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please