No other humanitarian intervention produces a more dramatic effect on life than access to clean water and sanitation. It is fundamental to all aspects of development, and often the first work World Vision does in a community.
"The poor and needy search for water, but
there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst, but I the LORD will answer them."
— Isaiah 41:17-18 (NIV)
PROVIDING WATER AROUND THE WORLD
In many regions of the world, women and girls walk for hours every day to collect water that often isn't even safe to drink. World Vision provides clean water by drilling deep wells to tap underground water sources. Through a partnership in West Africa, for example, we have drilled 958 wells, providing more than 504,000 people in Ghana, Mali, and Niger with the gift of clean water.
During the rainy season in arid regions, World Vision helps communities collect, purify, and store fresh rainwater in safe containers for use later in the year.
World Vision helps transform arid land into fertile fields through the construction of gravity-fed clean water systems. In southern Ethiopia, previously unproductive land is now bursting with crops thanks to a system that benefits almost 64,000 farmers.
World Vision helps communities protect natural springs from contamination by livestock and wild animals.
World Vision supplies equipment to treat and purify water contaminated by bacteria, pesticides, and animal waste.
SANITATION
Because good sanitation helps keep water sources cleaner, World Vision provides waste product management to improve health and slow the spread of disease.
World Vision builds concrete laundry pads to protect local water sources from contamination by detergents and waste water.
PROVIDING CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION IN ETHIOPIA
Tongo town, where more than 7,500 people live, had only one spring. The water from the spring trickled so slowly that people had to wait on average five hours to fill a 5-gallon jerry can of water every day. Lack of water severely affected the functioning of the local health clinic and school, and many people suffered from waterborne diseases. World Vision installed 10 water points in Tongo, and now life is much better for women and children – who collect the water – and community health is improving.
RIGHT: A girl drinks water from the new, clean source in Tongo, Ethiopia
In Fitiwalo village, access to clean water had long been a serious problem. People used to get their drinking water from a dirty spring, and they had to walk about an hour to and from the spring on a hilly path. "The spring water they were making use of was unprotected," explained the head of the local health post. "As a result, they were exposed to various waterborne diseases, including amoeba, giardiasis, ascarias, and typhoid." World Vision developed a clean water supply system and water points in four sites in the village. Now, about 2,000 people have access to clean water.
RIGHT: A mother washes clothes at the water point.
