The Human Face of The Safe Drinking Water Crisis

The world is in the midst of a massive crisis. About one out of six of our fellow human beings on Earth does not have daily, immediate access to the most basic of necessities: safe drinking water.   If you don’t have this, you get sick or you die.  This represents the largest health crisis facing humanity, period.

Imagine if every morning you had to hoist a heavy vessel onto your head and walk two hours to a watering hole. After filling your vessel—now over 40 lbs. and often filled with dirty water—you had to carry it two more hours back home.  And that might be the first of several trips your family made that day to get a minimum amount of water to cook, bathe and clean. Just try that some time.

After your trek, how much more time and energy would you hope to have to farm, cook, take care of your family, work to make money outside the home, or go to school to get ahead?

This is the dilemma facing hundreds of millions of women and children in Africa, Asia, and Latin America each day, despite the fact that there are proven solutions to providing the water they need. They are among the 4,8000 who die every 24 hours, because they lack safe drinking water. That is the same as 20 jumbo jets crashing every day, killing everyone on board.  We would never let that happen … so why do we let one more day pass without attacking the safe drinking water crisis with all our might? Learn more and join the fight.

The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is six kilometers.

People with waterborne illnesses occupy half of the world’s hospital beds.

2.2 million die each year...

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