Each year the web is taken over by various ‘Internet Crazes’ and 2014 has had its share. Neknominate, Punch 4 Punch, Whaling, Baby suiting, No makeup selfie and Bubbling to name a few, as odd as they sound the behavior of those taking part is even stranger. As with all ‘Internet crazes’ often the odd behavior evidently does not end well for most participants.
Currently, the latest internet craze sweeping social media sites calls for individuals to douse themselves with ice cold water. The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads while challenging others to do the same with the intention of creating awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and to encourage participants to donate towards research.
While in general so-called internet crazes are pointless, the ALS ice bucket challenge was created for a worthy cause. As confirmed by the ALS Association of the United States, they have received USD 79.7 million in donations since the start of the challenge compared to USD 2.5 million during the same time period last year.
Saying the challenge took the internet by storm is an understatement. From everyday Toms to famous Hollywood celebrities, prominent politicians and sportsmen everyone could be seen taking up the challenge. While some were happy with one bucket of water, others decided to go all out performing stunts like being doused by water cannons and even jumping into freezing lakes.
Evidently, the majority were keen to get on the ‘Ice bucket’ bandwagon so much so that all the drinking water on the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland was used for the challenge and the Scottish Water company was forced to shut off its supply to cut wastage on the eight mile-long island. Bet they are regretting all the water dousing now.
While the challenge took the world by storm, Sri Lankans as always weren’t far behind. Videos of Sri Lankan cricketers, politicians and various prominent personalities and members of the general public were seen challenging, nominating, bathing and supposedly donating all over facebook timelines clogging every user’s feed.
But noticeably lacking from many of these videos were as to what it was all about. Unless one wasted time watching each and every video, most never mentioned anything about the disease and neither mentioned donation details or how the money will be used. For all one could guess ALS might have stood for A/L examinations and ironically in a country affected by drought, Sri Lanka’s were seen dousing water on their heads right and left.
Californians were not far behind even though the State is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts on record. Taking the opportunity for a PR stunt, companies were happily dousing their staff en masse in hundreds of gallons of icy water.
Some like Matt Damon and Otara Gunawardene while taking part in the challenge drew attention to the lack of clean water by using toilet water and sea water respectively which should be commended. It was also a sigh of relief to see the Chinese being more sensible, with residents of Henan Province protesting against the craze with empty buckets to bring attention on the drought affecting the province.
Another voice of reason was heard in Australia with Queensland newsreader Lincoln Humphries refusing to accept the challenge on air. Instead Humphries said viewers would be better served by donating their money to water-saving charities rather than wasting ice by throwing it on their heads.
Having started with charity in mind, the challenge now is bordering on stupidity with large amounts of clean water being wasted daily. Some participants have even ended up dead due to mishaps during the stunt. The truth of the matter is the ALS bucket challenge while raising funds, has exhausted the patience of many becoming more of a trend than done out of a charitable heart.
However, while mindless followers have blindly taken the predicted path, others have instead used the popularity of the ALS ice bucket challenge to attract attention to national causes relating to each country. Take for example, the ‘rubble bucket challenge’ by residents of Gaza. A Palestinian journalist launched the challenge to draw attention to the desperate living conditions in Gaza where water is too precious to waste. With shelling ravaged buildings in the background Gazans poured rubble over their heads hoping the world would take note of their plight.
A dirt bucket challenge also emerged from California as a protest against the fad of throwing water over one’s head while the State is experiencing a drought while similar protests were seen in other parts of the world. ‘Sleepy Hollow’ star, Actor Orlando Jones poured a bucket of bullets over his head to highlight the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, where an unarmed black teenager died after being shot by police.
On a more charitable note India’s rice bucket challenge is a more acceptable option as it draws attention to poverty and hunger. The Global Hunger Index, published in 2012, said the situation in India was ‘alarming’. The World Food Program said India was home to a quarter of the world’s undernourished.
Thought up by Manju Latha Kalanithi, a 38-year-old Hyderabad-based journalist, the challenge does not as one might assume require participants to pour grain over their heads. Instead it encourages Indians to donate a bucketful of rice to someone in need rather than waste clean water which is considered to be precious in most Asian countries.
While some Bollywood stars preferred to dump water over their heads, the campaign launched by Kalanithi has up to date attracted 138,000 contributors since its launch, who mainly consist of the general public.
In neighboring Nepal, a ‘Fill the Bucket’ challenge has been launched asking people to fill up plastic buckets with food and medical supplies to help families displaced by deadly flooding and landslides this month in the Himalayan nation. While at least 250 people have died and over 14,000 families have been displaced after landslides and floods, the Nepalese have understood that the need of the hour is not an ice bucket, but rather a bucket full of rations for their people.
However, sadly such a campaign has not been thought of in Sri Lanka where most social media users were happy to just follow the norm rather than take up a national interest. While Sri Lanka is suffering from a severe drought some social media users even laughably suggested Sri Lankans to take up the ice bucket challenge and douse themselves with water to raise funds for drought victims. Instead of wasting clean water we should be ashamed of having done it while fellow countrymen struggle to find water on a daily basis. Imagine their thirst watching people dumping clean water on their heads. Can’t one donate without performing the ‘ALS ice bucket challenge’? Anyone would answer in the positive.
Most parts of the world are facing a severe dry spell. As one critic went on to say, “Right now we just need some rain, not ice buckets”. Each country has its own set of problems that goes beyond ALS, as do Sri Lanka. While ALS is a serious disease and research needs to be supported, it is wasteful to dump buckets of water on our heads when there are thousands of people around the world without drinking water and deviating from more national concerns. So, perhaps what is needed is filling a bucket rather than emptying a bucket for a good cause to help our own.
- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/32745-one-bucket-for-all-causes.html#sthash.gGZAEhSP.dpuf
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