World Water Day gets a concert in Second Life

This week's eco-topic: Water

How do you get people involved in big issues  that are enormously important but also dauntingly huge in scope -- and seemingly very removed from the realities of the people you're trying to reach? You've probably heard about how many people around the world don't have access to clean drinking water. But in our own bottled-water lives, this faraway problem is usually very much out of sight -- and often out of mind.

WaterPartners International, a nonprofit that provides safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries, is trying to bring the water issue closer to home -- or more accurately, the computer. Can't (or don't want to) travel to see the global water crisis first-hand? Then just have your Second Life avatar walk over to the WaterPartners Village to see it in a simulated digital world. Here's a clip of what that Second Life visit might look like:

Why use the fictional world of Second Life to raise awareness about this real-world issue? "What we were really trying to do was touch people at a deeper level and allow them to interact with what the characters and with the issue in a way that's really not possible otherwise," says Steve Byers, director of development and communication for WaterPartners. "We can't physically take people to these villages, and ... even when you're there physically, there are still some psychological barriers. Its sort of uncomfortable to go into someone's dwelling place, for example. Whereas in this virtual world, we can break down those barriers in a more comfortable way."

Second Life is just one venue by which WaterPartners is trying to bring this issue into the mainstream. Facebook Flickr, Myspace, and YouTube also have a WaterPartners Village presence, thanks to three avatars -- Dahney from Ethiopia, Miguel from Honduras, and Araja from India -- each with their own profiles and regularly-updated blogs. No, the avatars are not modeled after actual people. "From the philosophical standpoint, they're conveying truth through the art of storytelling," Byers says."

Will this e-foray prove successful in bringing attention to the global water crisis? Byers hopes so, noting that this WaterPartners Village is primarily an awareness-building campaign. "If people who have a Myspace page or a Facebook page, if they would link to this, that would be a step.... We hope that will expand our network."

The campaign's clearly aimed at people younger than me -- Araja, the oldest WaterPartners Village avatar, is just 22 -- so although I'm not particularly compelled to make Araja my Myspace "friend," maybe younger would-be social activists will get into their blog storylines. What do you think?

WaterPartners Village is even planning a World Water Day concert in Second Life, starting 5 pm Pacific time on March 22. Unfortunately, I tried Second Life a couple times, but couldn't get into it -- and finally deleted the program from my computer during my effort to speed up my computer a few days ago. If your avatar decides to go rock out, please report back and let me know if I should give Second Life another chance --