CLEAN WATER IS LIFE!
It’s dawn and you start walking across the dry, sandy earth to the nearest well, 3 miles away. Watch out! You might be attacked or raped by someone hiding in that clump of thorn bushes ahead. You’re a 10, 12, 14 or 16-year-old girl, or a mature woman, and you can forget about those dreams you have for an education, or a healthy family. Your job is to fill that bucket on your head with water, when it will weigh 20kgs for the homeward journey. (That’s heavier than an airline’s checked-in baggage allowance.)
Okay, the water’s filthy, containing animal dung and bugs, but your family will use it for cooking, drinking and washing.
Make sure your afternoon journey to the well is started early – you must be back home before nightfall with all its dangers. Get into the bushes while it’s still daylight, too, and if possible, find a quiet and unused area amongst all the other human sewage, to use as a toilet.
Yes, it’s sad to hear that two young cousins have just died, one from cholera, one from dysentery, but of course you’re used to such things in your part of the world.
A child dies every 15 seconds from diseases caused by unsafe water and lack of sanitation.
WATER AID is working in 15 countries to help provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene education projects. Every £6 we collect here in England provides a village with a tapstand that is connected to a clean, piped water supply. No more water treks! Education instead! The projects we work with bring other benefits, too – these range from health to work and income-generating activities, improved nutrition and better family and community relations.
Can you help Water Aid to tap into other people’s lives and provide them with the basic necessity for living?
Logon and search for the 'Fundraiser for Water Aid' opportunity to find out more about the Dorset Water Aid Support Group and how you can help its work.
Back to News Listing