Story
WATER… It’s LIFE’s most BASIC need
We at Muslim Charity know the difference a drop of water can make so imagine the difference a water-well or hand pump can do?
REMEMBER water affects everything (next to each tick will be a symbol representing the terms)
ü Education - Everyday, women and children carry more than 40 pounds of dirty water from sources over 4 miles away from their homes. This leaves little time for education.
ü Health - 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. (World Health Organisation)
ü Poverty - 1 BILLION people live without clean drinking water. Water is an astonishingly complex and subtle force in an economy. It is the single constraint on the expansion of every city, and bankers and corporate executives have cited it as the only natural limit to economic growth.
(World Economic Forum)
ü Women & Children - In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely to make them sick. (UNDP)
A family in East Africa cannot just turn on the tap when they are thirsty. A mother or family member must go out to collect water, which can take on average four hours to get there and back and sometimes even more. Time is of the essence, in a span of four hours, mothers in Somalia can cook food for themselves and their children eat a meal and read a book. BUT none of this is possible without access to clean and safe water.
Once communities have access to clean and safe water, they can escape the water poverty trap. There will be no need to walk miles to get unsafe water which leads to illnesses and dangerous water-related diseases, communities are better able to channel their time and energy into more productive activities and be in a happy and healthy state.
ACCESS to Safe & Clean Water
ü Restores dignity and right to freedom and to earn a living.
ü Gives a right to cook and eat a meal.
ü Enables families to be healthy and hydrated so they can focus and educate themselves.
ü Prevents them from facing physical harm and illnesses.
Muslim Charity: Health begins with access to clean & safe water
Muslim Charity’s water programme helps communities to gain access to clean water sources. In rural areas the most common technologies we use are hand pumps, deep water wells, hand-dug wells, tube wells or boreholes that reach groundwater resources. Where possible we rehabilitate existing wells that have fallen into disorder, as it is more cost effective than the construction of new wells.
The wells are hygienically sealed and fitted with appropriate pumps that the communities are trained to maintain and service themselves.
Where groundwater is inaccessible or in short supply, rainwater harvesting can be a viable alternative or supplementary source. In this regard we construct underground water reservoirs (known as berkads) in areas such as East Africa.
Case study to be inserted with images
Consider the following foods we take for granted... (THIS SHOULD BE DISPLAYED ON THE LEAFLET IN A PIE CHART FORMATOR STYLE)
|
Food |
Water Needed |
|
1 Glass of milk |
200 |
|
Cup of Coffee |
140 |
|
Bag of Chips |
185 |
|
Slice of Bread |
40 |
|
Egg |
135 |
|
Apple |
70 |
|
Hamburger |
2,400 |
(The below should be put in a illustrative format) showing how bad health turns to good health with clean and safe water, how collecting water as a waste of energy and time turns to having access to water and one can read/educate themselves etc)
The impacts of Muslim Charity’s Water Programme
- Women have more time to work to earn money, grow food and cook and care for their children, which boosts households' income, nutrition and health.
- Children have more time to help with domestic tasks or dedicate to their schooling, which improves their long-term prospects.
- The stress on household finances is reduced by the reduced need for medical care for water-related diseases.
WE GIVE CLEAN & SAFE WATER
(this should be put in a map format with marks on the countries below with symbols of water)
1. Pakistan
2. India
3. Bangladesh
4. Afghanistan
5. Ghana
6. Kenya
7. Somalia
8. Malawi