Hope and Healing

I like watching TV shows about the wilderness and people testing their survival skills.   Often one of the key and vital challenges is to obtain access to water… clean water.

If the participants can’t find clean water, they call for help. If they still don’t get the help they need, they fail to “survive”.  In reality, this just means they will leave the show.  It’s as simple as that.
No one ever dies or goes blind or contracts a debilitating illness.

If they fail to “survive”, they return to their homes–to running water, a comfortable couch, and perhaps a bag of chips.

This is not what real-life survival challenges in the poorest communities look like.  Their lives are not a show that’s neatly wrapped up in 30 minutes.  No audience is cheering them on, and there are no prizes to win.

Amhara, Ethiopia is in the middle of the dry season.  The average person has access to only 3 or 4 litres of water per day.  Next time you see a 4 Litre bag of milk, think about what it would be like if the bags were full of water. Then imagine that it’s all you had for the day to bathe, wash your clothes and dishes, cook and drink with.  And tomorrow will be exactly the same.

Without clean water, sickness and infections spread — ultimately leading to more disability.

Trachoma, a blinding eye infection, is endemic in Amhara, Ethiopia.  62% of moms, dads and children contract it because it’s nearly impossible to keep hands and faces clean with so little water.
But, there is hope!  This year, together with our partner, we’re determined to build 40 capped springs and dug wells in the region. Each water source will serve about 3,500 people.

Clean water is key to survival. This is reality. We can provide clean water for the people of Amhara Ethiopia. Let’s do it!

Learn more

Tags: blindness, clean water, poverty, sanitation, sickness, survival, trachoma, water