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Water is life – a simple fact. And clean water saves lives. Yet eleven percent of the world’s population – 783 million people – lack daily access to even a single drink of safe water. Those in the poorest countries with few resources to find or provide clean water face the greatest risk.
According to WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, “Providing sustainable access to improved drinking water sources is one of the most important things we can do to reduce disease.” On World Water Day and every day, AmeriCares helps to provide accessible safe water for many more people in Ethiopia, Haiti, Kentucky or any place in need.
Ethiopia
In Borena, Ethiopia, AmeriCares helped 31,500 people drink water safely. We delivered three million sachets of PUR water purification tablets to the drought-stricken region, saving tens of thousands of people from resorting to untreated local sources.
Contaminated water can carry potentially deadly diseases, particularly affecting those with immune systems already weakened from malnutrition. The AmeriCares supplies enable people to remove much of the risk from their water. “Now, after using the treated water, my whole family is healthy,” said community member Dima Dabaso.
Photo courtesy of Oxfam. All Rights Reserved.
Kentucky
AmeriCares aid to areas struck by the recent spate of devastating tornadoes included much-needed bottles of clean water. The storms, which ravaged the South and Midwest, also left many Americans with homes destroyed or damaged and without electricity — cutting off their sources of water. AmeriCares and partner Nestle Waters North America teamed up to supply a total of 128,000 bottles of water to communities in need across Kentucky, one of the hardest-hit states.
The water is being distributed by The Christian Appalachian Project, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management and the National Guard. “There is no water in the county,” said Sherry Buresh, Director of the Christian Appalachian Project’s disaster relief program, of the area following the storm. “If we did not get water in, people would die.”
AmeriCares delivered over a million bottles of water for disaster response in 2011 and more in 2012, so that those who have already lost so much do not also need to worry about this basic necessity.
Haiti
AmeriCares revitalized a Haitian community by ensuring clean water to its residents. An AmeriCares grant allowed for the purchase and installation of the water pump for this community of 900 residents in Cap Haitian, who benefit every day from reliable access to an improved water source.
In Haiti, sometimes-fatal Cholera, which can be contracted in contaminated water sources, has reached epidemic levels.
Clean water prevents disease and provides peace of mind. “The restoration of this pump will allow for a great reduction of diarrhea cases in the community and surrounding areas,” explained Dr. Sister Immaculee Beldorin, a head nurse for Daughter of Wisdom. The pump sits at the vital hub of community life— alongside a school, a clinic and a community center— increasing health and saving lives in northwest Haiti.
Photo by Miguel Samper
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