Did you know 703 million people live without access to safe water and another 1 in 4 lack access to a toilet? Both are critical elements to overall health and cause nearly a million people, including approximately 300,000 children under five, to die each year from diseases preventable with basic access to clean water and sanitation. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), the global public expert on water access, sanitation and hygiene, defines “basic access” as a person’s ability to gather safe water in under a 30-minute round trip. This includes the time that it takes to wait in line.
Founded by the United Nations in 1993, World Water Day highlights the importance of safe water and it helps bring awareness of the water crisis to the world. Clean Water & Sanitation is the UN’s 6th Sustainable Development Goal initiated in 2015 and intended to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” The United Nations has dubbed 2024’s World Water Day with the theme of Water For Peace.
When basic access to a clean water source and sanitation is available, it not only significantly improves the quality of life for an entire area but has a big impact on the lives of women and girls who are typically the water gatherers. Without the need to spend such a large part of their day collecting water, women have more time to care for family members and/or work. Girls have more time to attend school, which provides more positive outcomes for their future.
As Christians, our mission focuses on children and families living in extreme poverty in Africa and Asia one village at a time. We approach global problems with local, sustainable solutions for a lasting impact. Elizabeth, a grandmother in rural Tanzania, faced a three-hour walk each day to get brackish, salty water for her two grandchildren and husband, which even then sometimes made the children sick. Her greatest wish was to have a source of safe water available so her grandchildren can grow up healthy and attend school to improve their chances for a brighter future. Her story is one example where people like you are making it possible for Elizabeth to get her wish as her village is now funded.
Elizabeth’s village is just one story among many and more work is needed to help eradicate this crisis. Water For Good has a list of communities still unfunded, and once you open your heart to partner with a village, your gift kickstarts a community water project. Each village is carefully selected and the process includes teaching healthy habits that make a big impact on the overall health of its members. This important step equips communities to be knowledgeable about their health and be willing to make changes. Local staff tracks the success of each project, providing support along the way; and local churches are equipped to fully embrace and love their community. Moreover, a village makes a commitment to the project by contributing up to 15% for the construction of a well. The process to become a “healthy village” takes approximately 24 months from start to finish.
Each Water for Good project intends to end:
- Long-walks for women: For example, in Ethiopia, over 70 percent of the population is using an unsafe water source for drinking, cooking, and bathing causing many health problems.
- Monthly trips to the hospital: Many villages suffer over and over again from serious WASH-related illnesses.
- Dangerous walks: Many women’s journey to safe water includes walking hours up and down mountains, through forests, and along steep, slippery hillsides.
- The crisis for millions of women like Adanech, who explains, “I am always asking God to give us clean water as I have seen in other villages.”
On World Water Day, both this year and every year, we hope you would join us in helping and praying for those in need.
