Clean Drinking Water

This morning, your child or loved one may have come to you asking for a glass of water. All you needed to do was open the cupboard, take out a glass and turn on the faucet or pour from a refrigerated pitcher. The water was most likely crystal clear, cold and refreshing. It quenched your family’s thirst.

This morning, in another country, a Haitian mother’s child will ask her for a glass of water. Sadly, even though her child is thirsty, dehydrated and ill, his mother will be unable to fulfill such a simple request. The family has no faucet, no refrigerator and no place to go to get a glass of clean water. 

With no other options, the mother leads her child out of their tiny, dirt-floored shelter to the river behind them. Animals, children and villagers share what little water is available in this river — a river contaminated with sewage runoff and waste. These underprivileged communities desperately need access to water wells, hand water pumps, and filter systems.

Many parts of the world are affected by contaminated drinking water, especially the poorest countries of the Caribbean. In Haiti, it is not uncommon for mothers to watch helplessly as their children die from bacterial intestinal infections, and other waterborne diseases.