Would you get up before dawn to collect muddy water from dew-pools that have formed overnight?
Would you dig into the sandy river bank to get your water for your children to drink? That’s how many of the communities that we support get their drinking water. How fair is that in the 21st century?
For the ‘lucky’ ones, they simply have to trek 5km to the stream each time they want more water. It is estimated that during the dry season, women and children spend an average of five hours every day fetching water! For many children this means missing school – which doesn’t worry them too much but really hampers their education.
When they get to the stream, the water they collect will often be polluted and will need to be boiled or filtered before it can be drunk. Imagine the children playing … getting hot … and running to the stream to guzzle some water!
130,000 chidren under 5 die every year from diarrhoea in Nigeria. That is one little life every four minutes!! Little wonder that when TASTE provides clean drinking water via a borehole, the incidence of illness amongst the community – especially amongst the children – is reduced dramatically.
Closer to town, it is possible to purchase water – often from a dubious source – from street water sellers. They have wooden trolleys packed with 25 litre containers but water in containers is very expensive and beyond the financial reach of many.