Heritage Month celebrations have come and gone. But the most pertinent issue that was conspicuously absent in these celebrations was that of water as a critical aspect of our heritage.
This state of affairs is depressing given that water remains the mainstay of nearly every human endeavour.
It is always said that culture is not static and that it is always evolving.
Through it, we celebrate our past; reaffirm who we are and where we are headed.
One of the main features in the festivities that took place was the cooking of traditional food.
Our collective failure to infuse water issues into our culture is the very reason why we have not paid attention to the impending disaster that is caused by moving away from traditional agriculture to rapid industrialisation of the sector.
And, in some cases, where water is accessible, it is sometimes heavily polluted.
So, the cultures that we celebrate every year should provide all of us with the opportunity to stress the importance of water and what we should do to help conserve this life-giving resource.
To be specific, where water-related issues are concerned, we should make it part of our culture and work with the government, the private sector and civil society organisations to find solutions to water challenges.