Can you imagine how many families in countries abroad, such as Africa and Bangladesh wish they could say that their children love water as the parents model drinking it. Here, water is a take it or leave it substance, over there it is their very life water. It is what they need to keep them alive but sadly much of the water is not doing its job very well. The water that people can access is dirty and full of disease and they end up trapped in a vicious cycle -
Many charities are tackling water as a priority and rightly so as every day more than 4,000 children in the developing world die from water-borne diseases. That’s more children dying of dirty water than of malaria, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Scary, isn't it?
So what can we do?
March 22nd 2012 is World Water Day and one of the charities I support, Samaritans Purse
is aiming to raise £22,000 to help thousands of children and families in Africa access clean water and escape the trap of water poverty via their Turn on the Tap
campaign.The solutions are not complex: a water filter installed in a home, a new well sealed with a water pump, a latrine block for the community. Take a look at the joy on that child's face, how can we fail to help when we see what a small amount of money from us can achieve?
Just £48 can save the life of a child by providing them with access to clean water through a water filter installed in the family home. To give a gift of clean water or find out what else you can do on World Water Day, go to www.turnonthetap.org.uk/world-water-day. There are some super ideas for fund raising there and great resources available to download.
Something simple many of us can do is to request the mock water filter box to collect our spare coins in, how much more worthwhile would it be for them to go to help families abroad than be spent at the amusement arcade on holiday?
How do you fancy joining in? Is your chosen charity doing something for world water day?
