Day 18 of 30 Days of Compassion: Help to Heal a Thirsty World

Day 18 of 30 Days of Compassion from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Embrace Waterstep (formerly Edge Outreach) and Help to Heal a Thirsty World

http://waterstep.org/

We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.
—Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General

The global water crisis affects more than 1.1 billion people worldwide. And diseases caused by waterborne illness and unsanitary living conditions claim more lives each year than war, HIV/AIDS and cancer combined.

Young children are especially at risk, and 2.2 million will die this year alone from dehydration caused by diarrheal illnesses — 80% of those will be lost before reaching their fifth birthday.

Most of these deaths are preventable, and the World Health Organization estimates that over 2 million lives could be saved each year just by providing access to safe drinking water.

The Burden on Women and Children:

The task of fetching water is usually left to women and children who must walk for miles across unfriendly terrain to gather water from distant, often-polluted sources. In African countries, the average distance to a water source exceeds ten miles.

The time spent gathering water has a stifling effect for communities. It’s estimated that women and children spend an average of 200 million hours per day collecting water — time that could be spent in school or taking care of their families.

What’s worse, the task of gathering water is often dangerous, and women traveling alone are easy targets for harassment and even sexual assault.

Having a safe-water source nearby enables women to spend more time taking care of their families and learning new skills. It also allows children to go to school and get educated so they